A total of 358 people lost their lives in workplace accidents during the first half of the year, five less than in the same period of 2025, which represents, in relative terms, a decrease of 1.4%, according to the provisional figures released by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy.
Among the main causes of these fatal incidents are heart attacks and strokes, with 119 deceased, followed by blows caused by the fall of the worker themselves, which accounted for 51 deaths, and crushes or amputations, with 49 victims.
According to these preliminary data, fatal accidents that occurred during working hours decreased by 1.7% until June, with 290 deceased, five less than in the first six months of 2025. In contrast, "in itínere" accidents resulting in death remained stable, with 68 people deceased, the same figure as a year earlier.
Within the fatal accidents recorded during the workday, the services sector concentrated the highest number of victims, with 139 deceased, which represents an increase of 3.7% compared to 2025.
The services sector was the only one that raised its fatal accidents compared to the first half of 2025. Construction and agriculture repeated in the first six months of this year the same number of deceased as until June 2025, with 85 and 28 deaths, respectively. For its part, the industry reduced fatal accidents by 20.8%, accounting for 38 deceased.
322 deceased were salaried workers and 36 self-employed
The Ministry of Labor's statistics detail that, of the 358 deceased in workplace accidents until June, 322 were salaried workers, twelve less than in the same period of 2025 (-3.6%). In contrast, 36 victims were people who worked for themselves, seven more than in the first half of 2025 (+24.1%).
Of the total self-employed deceased, 32 died in their own workplace, seven more than in the same period of 2025 (+28%), while four lost their lives in an "in itínere" accident, the same figure as the previous year.
Accidents with work leave increase
Between January and June, accidents with work leave grew by 1.8%, reaching 303,853 cases. Of these, 259,647 occurred in the workplace, with an increase of 1.4%, and 44,206 were "in itínere" accidents (those that occur during the commute between home and the workplace), which rose by 4.4% year-on-year.
According to the Labor statistics, serious accidents during working hours totaled 1,700 by June, which represents a decrease of 5.6% compared to the same period in 2025. In contrast, serious accidents "in itinere" stood at 443, eight more than by June 2025 (+1.8%).
Regarding minor accidents during working hours, these increased by 1.4%, reaching a total of 257,657. Minor accidents "in itinere" also grew by 4.4%, reaching 43,695 cases.
Furthermore, by June, 261,120 workplace accidents without leave were reported, a figure 0.7% lower than that recorded in the first half of 2025.
UGT demands the approval of the LPRL reform in Parliament
After these figures were made known, UGT has labeled as "unacceptable" that 358 workers have lost their lives in workplace accidents in the first half of the year and has called on parliamentary groups to greenlight the reform of the Occupational Risk Prevention Law (LPRL).
"Every year, hundreds of people die and thousands suffer injuries in workplace accidents without companies and public administrations adopting sufficient measures to reverse this situation," denounced the union of Pepe Álvarez in a statement.
For the union organization, the processing and approval of the reform of the Occupational Risk Prevention Law is "urgent," as the draft law signed by the Government, UGT, and CCOO "reinforces the obligation to manage psychosocial risks, adapts the regulations to the risks arising from climate, demographic, and digital transitions, incorporates the gender perspective in preventive management, and creates the figure of the territorial agent to support SMEs in developing an effective preventive culture."
"The creation of this new figure would contribute to improving the management of occupational risk prevention in those small and medium-sized enterprises that lack union representation. Precisely, SMEs are the ones that face the greatest difficulties in adequately managing their occupational risks, so the intervention of the territorial agent in companies with fewer than ten workers would represent a significant advance in the protection of occupational health," UGT advocates.
The union has also urged companies to strictly comply with current regulations on occupational risk prevention and to reinforce their obligations regarding safety and health at work.