At least 842 workers killed on the job in Turkey in first half of 2022

Photo: Elke Wetzig

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At least 842 workers were killed on the job throughout the country and abroad in the first six months of the year, the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG) announced.

Some 187 workers were killed in June, according to the monthly İSİG report.

Among the 842 workers, 789 were men and 53 were women; 729 were paid workers (workers and civil servants) and 113 were working on their own behalf (farmers and shopkeepers).

Twenty-two child workers were killed on the job in six months, including five children younger than 14. Fifty-eight of the killed workers were over the age of 65.

Only 26, or 3.08 percent, of the killed workers were unionized.

Forty-eight refugee workers were killed in six months. Nineteen of them were from Syria, 12 were from Afghanistan, four were from Uzbekistan and three were from Iran.

Some 165 workers died in traffic or shuttle accidents, 155 were killed because of "being crushed/collapse," 100 died of a heart attack or brain hemorrhage, 46 killed themselves, and 42 died of Covid-19.

The highest number of deaths was in the construction/road sector with 165. It was followed by agriculture and forestry with 144, transportation with 98, "trade, office, education, cinema" with 58, metal with 55, "municipality and general works" with 49, healthcare and social services with 40 and mining with 34.

With 126 deaths, İstanbul was the city with the highest number of workers killed on the job. Thirty-one people were killed in İzmir and Muğla each, and 30 workers were killed in Antalya and Kocaeli each.

Twenty-two workers from Turkey were killed in 15 countries — Iraq, Northern Cyprus, Israel, Russia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. (HA/VK)