摘要:The research provides results useful for promoting accident prevention in the Italian food industry and paves the way to a series of studies concerning occupational risk. The study propounds a multivariate statistical approach based on municipal statistical indicators concerning the structure of the agri-food sector. Th ese indicators referred to the last industrial and demographical census, have been utilized as regressors in multiple regression models, to identify determinants of incidence rate of work accidents in five regions, in the three year period 2001-’03. Th e integrated use of principal components and cluster analysis enabled us to locate regional agri-food systems used as territorial units to analyze the frequency of accidents at work by section of the agri-food industry. Th e survey highlights that the territory, as a source of “tacit” knowledge integrated with the “codi. ed” learning, can represent a strategic competitive factor to join economic growth and work safety.