According to the monthly report on workplace fatalities compiled by the Workers’ Health and Work Safety (İSİG) Assembly, in September nearly seven workers died on the job each day, with at least 206 workers losing their lives that month.
Of the deceased workers, 64 were employed in industry, 49 in agriculture, 49 in services, and 44 in construction.
With the release of İSİG’s September report, the total number of workplace deaths in the first nine months of 2025 reached 1,566 (January 180, February 124, March 159, April 156, May 178, June 164, July 207, August 192).
9 children, 14 women, 9 refugee/migrant workers
Among those who died in September, nine were children, 14 were women, and nine were refugee or migrant workers. Only one of the deceased workers was a union member.
The children who died were employed in agriculture, trade, food, and metalworking sectors. Three of them were under the legal working age of 14. Seventeen-year-old Yağız Yıldız was an 11th-grade student at the Vocational Training Center (MESEM) in the Iron and Rolling Department. During his internship at Karabük Iron and Steel Works (Kardemir) Continuous Billet Rolling Mill, he was crushed by a scrap winding machine.
The age distribution of workplace fatalities in September was as follows:
- 3 child workers aged 14 and under
- 6 child/young workers ages 15–17
- 36 workers aged 18–29
- 90 workers aged 30–49
- 53 workers aged 50–64
- 9 workers aged 65 and over
The İSİG Assembly could not determine the ages of 9 workers
Unassigned teachers and young people forced to work to study
25-year-old Erhan Deniz was an unassigned teacher. Last year he had worked as a contracted teacher. This year, he came to Araklı, Trabzon, to work as a plasterer. He died when the ladder he was using on scaffolding at a construction site came into contact with a high-voltage power line. He was from Pirömer Village, Patnos, Ağrı.
22-year-old Maşallah Oktan was a fourth-year student in the Special Education Teaching program at Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya. To cover his school expenses, he was going to work as a seasonal farm laborer in Tarsus, Mersin. He died when the worker shuttle he was in collided with a truck. He was from Tepecik Village, İdil, Şırnak.
Distribution by sector
In September, the highest number of workplace deaths occurred in the agriculture sector. Of those who died, 27 were farmers and 22 were agricultural workers. The construction sector came second with 43 deaths, 35% of which occurred in cities affected by the February 6 earthquake.
Third was the transportation sector, with deaths among tanker, truck, lorry, cargo vehicle, minibus, and taxi drivers. The İSİG Assembly noted that this sector is characterized by insecure employment and, apart from some transportation roles, weak union organization.
The distribution of workplace deaths by sector in September was as follows:
- Agriculture and forestry: 49 (22 workers, 27 farmers)
- Construction and road: 43
- Transportation: 34
- Trade, office, education, cinema: 18
- Municipality and general services: 12
- Metal: 9
- Food and sugar: 5
- Textile and leather: 5
- Accommodation and entertainment: 5
- Mining: 4
- Energy: 4
- Petrochemicals and rubber: 3
- Shipbuilding, dockyard, maritime, and port: 3
- Defense and security: 3
- Cement, clay, glass: 2
- Health and social services: 1
The İSİG Assembly could not determine the sector for 6 workers.
Causes of death
In terms of causes of death, traffic or service accidents ranked first. Of these deaths, 66% occurred in the agriculture sector (due to worker transport in tractor beds, inappropriate service minibuses, unsuitable tractors, etc.) and in the transportation sector (due to long working hours, single-driver operations, unsafe roads, and pressure to meet work quotas).
Second were crushing or collapsing incidents. These deaths occurred in fields and construction sites when workers were run over by overturned tractors or moving machinery, and in industrial sectors when workers were caught in machines.
The distribution of work-related deaths in September by cause was as follows:
- Traffic/service accidents: 53
- Crushing/collapse: 38
- Falling from height: 32
- Heart attack/brain hemorrhage: 29
- Violence: 14
- Poisoning/drowning: 10
- Electric shock: 8
- Suicide: 5
- Explosion/fire: 3
- Object impact/fall: 3
- Other causes: 11
(HA/MH)
