The food delivery boom increases traffic accidents among delivery men

• 45% of workers who lost their lives last year in a workplace accident died in a traffic accident
  “The faster you go, the more option you have of high demand shifts” assures a ‘rider’

• Almost half (45%) of the workers who lost their lives last year died in a traffic accident, 10% more than a year ago.

The hospitality sector is the activity with the highest incidence rate of occupational traffic accidents, both during the day and when traveling, according to the first observatory of road occupational accidents in Spain, carried out by the Asepeyo mutual and the National Confederation of Driving Schools, which has warned of the situation of food delivery people at home and has called for urgent measures.

The study indicates a 5% rise in total work-related road accidents in 2018, which thus represented 13.4% of all work-related accidents.

Felipe Díez has worked as a ‘rider’ for a year and a half. He argues that the greatest danger for them is the work model “the one that distributes the fastest, the more points they have and the more work they give them,” and added that “they encourage us to skip all the traffic signs. It becomes crazy to make as many orders as possible because they do not pay me for my availability during those three hours with rain, snow or heat, but because the orders that I can get to do, “he has detailed.

Situation shared by his partner Florencio Yañéz «Time is money, the sooner you distribute it, the sooner the next one falls to you and that is more money. It’s what you live on, ”he said.

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By sectors, the highest incidence, measured in the number of accidents per 100,000 workers, was in the hospitality industry, followed by transport, which usually led the ranking, as explained by Asepeyo’s territorial director, Constantino Perea.

“We see increases in the hospitality industry of between 5% and 7% per year due to the increase in food delivery companies at home”, pointed out Perea, who has called for additional measures for this type of company and has denounced the situation in the one that many of the delivery men work.

Friday, the worst day

Another aspect in which the greater incidence of these companies is noted, Perea explained, is in the growing weight of traffic accidents in two-wheeled vehicles (motorcycles, bikes or scooters), which already account for 27% of the total during the working day and 18% when traveling.

“We are very concerned about motorcycles”, agreed the director of the National Road Safety Observatory of the DGT, Álvaro Gómez, who has also warned about the working conditions of the “riders”.

“Adequate training and awareness measures are needed”, claimed the president of the CNAE Foundation, José Miguel Báez, who recalled the importance of investing in training “one of the most effective actions to prevent road accidents at work.”

The highest number of accidents occur on Fridays due to fatigue, there is more traffic and also the number of orders is increased. According to the study, 530 accidents in the sector during the day for every 100,000 workers

More accidents among young people

By age, the observatory concludes that the highest incidence of occupational traffic accidents, both during the working day and when traveling to work, is among the youngest.

And by regions, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid have the highest incidence. On the days with the most accidents, Mondays lead both categories, on the road and on the day.

Regarding the average duration of sick leave due to a traffic accident, the study concludes that it is 7.4 days longer than the rest of occupational accidents.

“Urgent measures are required to reduce road accidents,” concluded Perea.