It may be a tempting pastime – but employers ought to beware. There is one sport in particular that makes insurers such as Baloise wave a warning flag.
Football is about to take over as the one dominating issue of discussion across the globe. And the world’s favorite television sport is also the most popular pastime among people in Europe. You could of course be forgiven for thinking that most injuries are fake given the behavior of football players on the pitch.
Still, in a timely study before the first ball has been kicked in Russia, Swiss insurer Baloise told employers that football is the No. 1 cause of sporting accidents in the country. It is causing many more accidents than say free-climbing or base-jumping, considered as highly risky. Every fourth sporting accident happens in football, or about 45,000 every year.
Major Cost Factor for Employers
The study is based on a survey of 3,000 people and came up with some interesting statistics: in 88 percent of the cases, the injured person was male and the average age was 31 years.
The accidents cause massive economic damage through sick leave. On average, every person was out for 32 days and the total cost of all these accidents amounted to 170 million Swiss francs ($172.5 million).
«Statistically, most injuries occur on Saturdays in June,» said Mathias Zingg, member of the executive committee and head of claims at Baloise. «Whereas if you want a safer choice – at least in terms of the stats – go for Mondays in December!»
