Six child workers under 14 killed on the job in Turkey in one month

At least six workers were killed on the job every day in August in across Turkey, according to the monthly report released by the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG).

The report said 192 workers lost their lives last month. Of them, 60 were employed in industry, 45 in agriculture, 44 in construction, and 43 in the service sector.

With August included, the number of workplace deaths in the first eight months of 2025 reached 1,359. The monthly figures were: January 180, February 124, March 159, April 156, May 178, June 164, and July 206.

Child workers

At least 13 of those who died in August were child workers. Six were under the age of 14. Six of the children worked in agriculture, two in the metal sector, and the rest in trade, office work, energy, hospitality, and general services. Another 16 workers who died were over 65 years old.

Under Turkish law, children aged 15 to 18 are allowed to work under certain conditions, but employing children younger than 15 is prohibited.

Nineteen of the workers who died were women, and six were migrant or refugee workers from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan. Only four of the 192 workers, or about 2 percent, were union members, while 188 had no union affiliation.

Most of the deaths occurred in sectors where insecure and informal employment is widespread, including agriculture, construction, transportation, trade, and municipal or general services. The sectoral distribution for August was as follows:

• 45 in agriculture and forestry (18 workers, 27 farmers)

• 42 in construction and roadwork

• 20 in transportation

• 17 in municipal and general services

• 13 in trade, office work, education, and cinema

• 8 in metal

• 8 in energy

• 7 in mining

• 6 in food and sugar

• 5 in petrochemical and rubber

• 4 in textiles and leather

• 3 in shipbuilding, docks, and ports

• 3 in hospitality and entertainment

• 2 in cement, glass, and ceramics

• 1 in banking, finance, and insurance

• 1 in health and social services

• 1 in defense and security

• 6 in unspecified sectors

Traffic accidents top the list of causes

Traffic and transportation accidents were the leading cause of workplace deaths. İSİG said about 70 percent of these occurred during worker transport in unsafe conditions, such as on tractor trailers or unfit service minibuses in agriculture, and due to long hours, single-driver shifts, unsafe roads, and pressure to meet deadlines in transportation.

Falls from height were the second most common cause, accounting for 66 percent of deaths in the construction sector. İSİG attributed these deaths to unsafe scaffolding, missing guardrails, uncovered openings, and lack of proper safety harnesses.

The causes of workplace deaths in August were distributed as follows:

• 39 from traffic and transport accidents

• 32 from falls

• 31 from being crushed or trapped

• 25 from heart attacks or strokes

• 19 from electrocution

• 12 from violence

• 6 from poisoning or suffocation

• 5 from explosions or burns

• 5 from being struck by objects

• 5 from suicide

• 13 from other causes (HA/VK)