One hundred seventy-seven workers in Turkey, two of whom were children and 10 of whom were women, lost their lives in workplace accidents in October, according to the Laborers’ Health and Occupational Safety Assembly (İSİGM).
In the first 10 months of 2018, 1,640 workers are documented to have died across Turkey in industrial accidents.
In its report İSİGM also addressed the demands of construction workers at İstanbul Airport, the first stage of which was opened on October 29, as well as the demands of physicians for their right to work.
The assembly prepared 84 percent of its report based on news reported in the domestic and international press and 16 percent on the basis of information obtained from the colleagues and families of the workers as well as occupational safety experts, physicians and labor unions.
According to the October 2018 report, while 161 of the 177 workers who died in October were wage earners (laborers and civil servants), the others were working independently as farmers or store owners.
The report showed that of the 177 deceased workers, 10 were women, 151 were men; two of them were children, one of whom was under the age of 14; and 14 were refugees/migrants.
“The deaths occurred for the most part in construction, agriculture, transportation, commercial activities, metals, energy, mining and municipal affairs,” the report said and added. “The most frequent causes of death were traffic/service vehicle accidents, crushing incidents, falls from high places and heart attacks.”
Meanwhile, Cahit Turan, the Turkish minister of transportation and infrastructure, announced that as of September 30, 2018, 30 workers had died during the construction of İstanbul Airport. However, according to İSİGM, there have been 38 fatalities during the construction of the airport.
