Air pollution and workplace accidents: Evidence and implications

We estimate the impact of air pollution on workplace accidents and permanent disabilities in Italy, a setting characterized by stringent air pollution and work safety regulations. Using daily administrative data between 2014 and 2018, we leverage winter heating regulations and atmospheric dynamics to address the endogeneity of air pollution generation and exposure. We find an elasticity of accidents with respect to particulate matter (PM10) of 0.12 and estimate no effect of pollution on disabilities. Using age groups as a proxy for work experience, we find larger impacts for less experienced workers. Increasing PM10 by 10 µ g/m3 would raise the average cost of an accident by 78 euros (7.3 %); employers bear 60 % of this cost, and public insurers bear 40 %.