At least 226 workers died across Turkey while working in September, bringing the death toll for the first nine months of 2026 to at least 1,736, according to a report by the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG).
The monthly toll has now exceeded 200 for five consecutive months, the first time that has happened since İSİG began keeping records in 2013.
İSİG recorded 155 work-related deaths in January, 129 in February, 151 in March, 190 in April, 214 in May, 228 in June, 216 in July and 227 in August.
Of the 226 deaths in September, 79 occurred in industry, 54 in construction, 48 in the service sector and 45 in agriculture.
Women and migrant workers
Twenty-one of those killed were women and 14 were migrant workers from Syria, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Bulgaria, Iraq, Russia and Ukraine.
At least seven of the workers who died in September were union members, while 219 were not. Nonunion workers accounted for 97 percent of the deaths.
Three of the child deaths occurred in agriculture, with the others recorded in food production, textiles, metalworking, construction and accommodation services.
Eleven of the workers who died in September were 65 or older.
Sixty-six child worker deaths in nine months
The report also recorded the deaths of eight child workers in September. Five were 14 or younger, while three were between 15 and 17. At least 66 child workers have died since the start of the year.
The group said Vocational Education Centers (MESEM), had become one of the most visible areas of child labor over the past two years:
“An institutional and legal mechanism has been created to bring child labor into production as a low-cost, even free, insecure and unregulated workforce.
“At this point, the issue that needs to be discussed regarding MESEMs is not only the lack of inspections or occupational safety measures, but the model itself, which makes child labor an ordinary and acceptable element of the labor market.”
Child labor outside the MESEM system continued informally, particularly in agriculture, small businesses, industrial sites and seasonal work, the goup noted.
Sectors
Construction and road work recorded the highest number of deaths by sector, with 50 workers killed. Agriculture and forestry followed with 45 deaths, transportation with 28, municipal and general services with 16, and shipbuilding, shipyards, maritime and port work with 15.
Commerce, office work, education and cinema recorded 10 deaths, accommodation and entertainment nine, and mining seven.
Traffic and shuttle accidents were the leading cause of work-related deaths in September, killing 49 workers.
Another 41 workers died after falling from heights, 40 in crushing incidents or collapses, and 30 from heart attacks or brain hemorrhages.
Electrocution caused 15 deaths, poisoning and suffocation 14, and violence 13.
Work-related deaths were recorded in 62 cities across Turkey and in six countries abroad during September.
İstanbul had the highest number, with 39 deaths. It was followed by Antep with nine, Ankara and Urfa with eight each, Düzce and Manisa with seven each, and Samsun and Trabzon with six each. (HA/VK)
