57 Workers Killed on the Job in April

Worker Health and Work Security Assembly, an Istanbul-based organization, released its monthly report on workplace mortalities in Turkey. According to the report, at least 57 workers were killed from work-related injuries in April with construction and steel sectors causing the most casualties.

At least 21 construction workers were reported killed with more than half of them due to falls, the report said.

In April, the workplace mortalities in steel sector - a sector that gradually caused more casualties throughout the year - turned out 7.

Other sectors with workplace mortalities included mining (4), education (4), office (4), motion picture (4), agriculture (3), forest (3), food (3), sugar (3), energy (3), ship building (3), docking (3), naval (3), accommodation (3), entertainment (3), concrete, soil, glass, transport, defense, security, agglomeration and general. 2 dead workers' sectors were not identified.

Most casualties in industrial cities

According to the report, the distribution of workplace mortalities concentrated in Turkey's most industrial cities.

The distribution of workplace mortalities in April according to cities were as follows:

5 deaths; İstanbul, 4 deaths; Kocaeli, 3 deaths; Antalya, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri and Zonguldak, 2 deaths; Ankara, Bursa, Çanakkale, İzmir, Konya, Malatya, Mersin, Samsun, Şanlıurfa and Tekirdağ, 1 death; Ağrı, Ardahan, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bartın, Burdur, Çorum, Denizli, Erzurum, Kırklareli, Kütahya, Nevşehir, Rize, Sakarya, Sinop and Şırnak.

New regulations

The report also cited Selin Erdem, a motion picture worker and a Sine-Sen union member who died on the job in Seyrantepe on 1 May 2012. 

"Selin died on the job due to the lack of secure working and resting condition which should have been provided by her employers. Even though her bosses attempted to present the case like a traffic accident, Social Security Institution concluded that her death was job-related," the report said.

"Worker Health and Work Security Assembly and Sine-Sen are currently working on a guide to ensure worker safety on film sets." (YY/BM)