Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 7, 2026

Suva (insurer)

The Suva, headquartered in Lucerne, is the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund. It is a public-sector insurer and leading provider of health care coverage for employees in case of accidents in Switzerland.

Last revised
Jun 7, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
235 w
Citations
8
Source
Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (Suva)
Company type
State-owned enterprise
IndustryAccident insurance
Founded1918 (1918)
FounderHermann Häberlin Edit this on Wikidata
Headquarters,
Area served
Switzerland
Number of employees
4200 (20181)
DivisionsRehabilitation clinics of Bellikon and Sion
Websitewww.suva.ch

The Suva, headquartered in Lucerne, is the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund. It is a public-sector insurer and leading provider of health care coverage for employees in case of accidents in Switzerland.1

Name

The name is the abbreviation of Schweizerische Unfallversicherungsanstalt (German for Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund, in French Caisse nationale suisse d'assurance en cas d'accidents or CNA; in Italian Istituto nazionale svizzero di assicurazione contro gli infortuni).

History

It was founded 1912 and it's active since 1918.1 For a long time, it held a monopoly for compulsory coverage for employees in high-risk professions. Its surplus income is distributed to insureds in the form of premium reductions.1

Its three missions are prevention, insurance and rehabilitation.1 About half of the people working in Switzerland are insured by the Suva in case of accidents (128,000 companies and 2,000,000 people insured).1

Unemployed people are insured against accidents by the Suva.1 Since 2005, the Swiss Armed Forces are also insured against accidents by the Suva.1

Notes and references

  1. (in French) Federal Coordination Commission for Occupational Safety (Federal Department of Home Affairs), CFST communications, number 86, April 2018, page 13.
See also

See also

External links