RIYADH — A total of 12,842 male and female workers sustained workplace injuries during the first half of 2020 at a rate of 2,140 injuries per month, according to a General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) report. It said injured male workers represent 97.9 percent, reaching 12,569 while women workers constitute 2.1 percent with 273 from the beginning of January until the end of June. They include 12,184 foreign workers (94.9 percent) and 658 Saudis (5.1 percent), Al-Watan newspaper reported. According to the GOSI figures, 12,001 workers (93.4 percent), who sustained injuries at their workplaces in the private sector, are undergoing treatment while 683 workers (5.3 percent) have recovered without any disabilities and 152 workers (1.2 percent) recovered with disabilities. The number of deaths registered among these workers reached six, and these include two under the Riyadh region office, and one each in Madinah, the Eastern Province, Yanbu and Al-Ahsa. The GOSI data showed that there were 13 types of accidents that caused the injuries recorded in 22 insurance offices in the regions and governorates across the Kingdom. The injuries due to exposure to machinery accounted for the highest percentage of 46 with 5,902 in number, and it was followed by 4,981 (38.8 percent) injuries due to falling and then 507 (3.9 percent) injuries in traffic accidents. The insurance office in the Eastern Province recorded 2,583 injuries (20.1 percent), and these include 2,542 men and 41 women, and it was followed by the Riyadh region office with 2,483 injuries (19.3 percent), of which there are 2,457 men and 26 women and then the Makkah/Jeddah office with 2,409 injuries (18.7 percent), including 2,282 men and 127 women.
