At least 152 workers lost their lives in work-related incidents across Turkey in September, according to the monthly report of the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG). The total number of work-related deaths identified by the group in the first nine months of 2023 reached 1,371.
The highest number of deaths occurred in the sectors of industry (45), construction (42), agriculture (33, including 18 workers and 15 farmers), and the service sector (32).
In September alone, the deaths were largely concentrated in key sectors: 45 fatalities occurred in industry, 42 in construction, 33 in agriculture, and 32 in the service sector.
Three of the killed workers were children. While two were aged between 15 and 17, legally entitled to work according to Turkish law, one was under 14 years old. Fifty-seven child workers have been killed on the job in the country since the start of the year.
Eight of the workers who died in September were aged 65 or older. Additionally, 29 workers were between the ages of 18 and 29, 65 were between 30 and 49, and 40 were between 50 and 64. The ages of seven workers could not be determined.
Among all the workers who died last month, only two were union members.
Traffic accidents and transportation-related incidents were the leading cause of worker deaths in September, resulting in 35 fatalities. Other major causes included crushing and cave-ins, which claimed 30 lives, and falls from heights, responsible for 26 deaths.
The monthly breakdown of fatalities included 161 deaths in January, 149 in February, 124 in March, 165 in April, 142 in May, 138 in June, 148 in July, and 192 in August.
Official data disclosed first time
On Sep 4, the Social Security Institution (SGK) released its official statistics on workplace deaths for the first time in a decade, which the İSİG mentioned in its report .
According to the SGK report, 1,972 workers died in workplace accidents in 2023. The İSİG Assembly's own count for the same period was 1,932. The assembly noted this discrepancy in its report, stating, "For years, there have been claims that the worker fatality numbers we publish are 'inflated.' Let’s see what those critics will say now." (VK)
