A decade of occupational accidents in Andalusian (Spain) public universities

• Occupational accidents in higher education induce an important concern.
• The incidence rate has decreased 17% more for men than for women.
• Almost 40% of accidents occur in the 41–50 age group.
• Overexertion and falls account for more than half of the accidents at the university.
• Women are almost twice as likely to suffer bone fractures as men.

Occupational accidents that occur at universities result in minor injuries, but different authors acknowledge that the consequences go beyond direct economic costs. This situation calls for continued efforts to reduce these kinds of accidents as much as possible. To that effect, this study analyses the evolution and characteristics of 931 accidents that have occurred over the last decade (2003–2012) to teachers, researchers and administrative personnel in public universities in Andalusia. The variables have been grouped into four categories: temporal, personal, the circumstances of the accident, and its consequences. The results show that dependencies between the variables considered do exist and help shed light on aspects of the accidents such as: when they occurred, who the victim was, how they happened and what the consequences were. From these results, occupational safety technicians and others responsible for the assessment, prevention and protection of workers can focus their strategies on developing and providing specific and appropriate training to deal with hazards such as overexertion or falls, which account for more than half the accidents that occur to employees in the higher education sector in Andalusia.