Infortunio Lavorativo e Concause Tossicologiche: risultati di una indagine preliminare in collaborazione con I.N.A.I.L. – Regione Veneto

Road and occupational accidents are important causes of death or disability. In Europe alcohol has been linked to 25% of lethal road accidents, killing about 10,000 people each year. Although the trend of accidents at work has been steadily decreasing in recent years, reportedly because of the application of a law banning alcohol use in the workplace [D.Lgs 81/2008, L 131/2003], the real percentage of deaths and injuries in the workplace directly related to alcohol is unknown. Data collected from INAIL records demonstrate that a relevant part of the occupational accidents is represented by traffic injuries. There is a general consensus and a strong scientific base that supports the correlation between alcohol and impairment. On these grounds, it is of the highest interest in the scientific, medical and insurance fields, to study the blood alcohol concentration in cases of occupational road accidents, in order to develop adequate policies to hinder the phenomenon.The Laboratory of Forensic Analytical Department of Diagnostic and Public Health, University of Verona analyzes, according to the procedures of modern toxicology, blood sampled from drivers involved in a road traffic accident with injuries in the emergency units of the hospitals of Verona. In the present study toxicological data was interfaced through a specific software with the database of INAIL in order to extrapolate those accidents that occurred at work during work-related road transfers. Type of work, type of injuries, gender, day and time of occurrence, age of the driver, were considered as variables of interest and analysed by using statistical methods 8459 cases (occurred between 2006 and 2013) of drivers involved in a road traffic accident with injuries have been enrolled.Comparing our toxicological results to the corresponding data deduced from the INAIL database, a 7,5% of traffic accidents occurred in workers with a blood alcohol concentration above 0 g/L. On this sample, in the 77% of subjects the blood alcohol concentration was above the legal limit (0.5 g/L). Thus, although apparently with a much lower prevalence than in the general population, “driving under alcohol influence” occurs also among professional drivers, representing a severe problem for the road and workplace safety.