[Evaluation of the strategy for identification and measurement of the fatal accidents at work]

In order to evaluate the strategy used by the Municipal Health Department of Belo Horizonte (SMSA/BH) for reducing the under-reporting of deaths from work-related accidents during the years of 2008 to 2010, a deterministic comparison of data on deaths from work-related accidents as reported in SINAN and SIM was conducted. As a complementary strategy to the deterministic comparison, the Investigation Data Sheets and Death Certificates were analyzed, which although not clearly declared, were suspected of involving death by work-related accident. Death from work accident was confirmed when the same victim, same accident, with a temporal connection between accident and death, were matched. The complementary strategy used by SMSA reduced the under-reporting identified by deterministic linking, with an increase of 45 deaths. Higher rates of under-reporting of deaths in the SINAN (n = 117) were found than in the SIM (n = 70). Although data linkage between SIM/SINAN is a necessary strategy to reduce the under-reporting of deaths from accidents, it is still insufficient, considering the limitations still present in both systems. The complementary strategy adopted by SMSA/BH, which is simple and easy to perform, yields good results.