Workers had hardly any safety measures in place, as can be seen in this Zurich photo from about 1910. (Zurich construction history archive)
Fachlabor Gubler
From the start, SUVA insured non-workplace accidents, like this one in Zurich in November 1927. (Zurich city archive)
Stadtarchiv Zürich
More leisure time meant a rise in the number of leisure-related accidents. (Swiss national archive)
Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv
The SUVA headquarters in Lucerne were built between May 1914 and December 1915. (Photopress-Archive)
Photopress-Archiv
The technical office for accident prevention in Lucerne, as seen in 1942 (SUVA archive)
Sinar
A worker testing a table saw safeguard in Lucerne in 1943 (Photopress-Archive)
Photopress-Archiv
In 1936, SUVA took over the Quellenhof baths in Baden to help rehabilitate amputees. Photo from 1962 (SUVA archive)
SUVA
As late as the 1960s, construction workers had neither helmets nor safety ropes. (Photopress-Archive)
Photopress-Archiv
Today, they warm up with SUVA exercises and hacky sacks. (Keystone)
Keystone
SUVA did mobile workplace hearing tests with this vehicle in 1988. (Keystone)
Keystone
Over the years, the focus has shifted from accidents to prevention. These SUVA posters date back to 1977 and 1986. (SUVA archive)
SUVA
This campaign with a fake traffic camera urges skiers and snowboarders to watch their speed on the slopes. (Keystone)
Keystone
One hundred years ago, the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA) was established. While the focus used to be occupational accidents and diseases, leisure accidents have become more common.
In the second half of the 19th century, industrialization led to social problems in Switzerland: poverty was widespread, factory work harsh and dangerous. Those who fell ill or had an accident were not covered.
In 1900, Swiss voters soundly rejected a bill to provide compulsory accident and health insurance. It was not until 1912 that they agreed to obligatory health insurance.
In 1918, the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA)External link began operations. Companies whose employees were exposed to a significant risk of occupational accidents or disease were required to sign up for SUVA’s insurance. Later, SUVA took on risk prevention and accident rehabilitation. The insurance system maintained a distinction between illnesses and accidents, regardless of the cause of an accident.
Today, SUVA has competition
In 1984, SUVA lost its monopoly on compulsory accident insurance (with the exception of the industrial and construction sectors). Other insurance companies have since been able to provide insurance against occupational and non-occupational accidents as well as occupational diseases. SUVA is still the largest accident insurer in Switzerland: two-thirds of employees in Switzerland are insured by SUVA.
SUVA was Switzerland’s first major form of social welfare and today, it’s still an important part of the Swiss social security system. It is organized as an independent company under public law, but receives no public money. Profits are returned to the insured in the form of lower premiums.
Dangerous hobbies
These days, factory accidents and occupational diseases are no longer the most urgent problems. Today, many Swiss can afford expensive and dangerous hobbies. The increasing frequency of recreational accidents poses major challenges for SUVA. About 60% of accidents happen during people’s free time. SUVA tries to prevent such leisure accidents with awareness campaigns.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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