A 16-year-old construction worker died on Aug 13 after falling from the ninth floor of a building under construction in Niğde, central Turkey.
Osman Bostan was reportedly working on drywall installation when he lost his balance and fell. Emergency services were called to the scene, but Bostan was pronounced dead upon their arrival. His body was transferred to the Niğde Ömer Halisdemir Education and Research Hospital for an autopsy.
Illegal employment
Bostan was employed illegally at the construction site, given his age. Turkish law classifies workers aged 14 to 15 as child laborers and those aged 15 to 18 as young workers. The law prohibits the employment of children under 14, and it strictly regulates the types of work that children aged 15 and older can perform. There are also differences between what those aged 14-15 and 16-17 are allowed to do.
For example, a 15-year-old child laborer is only allowed to engage in light work that does not harm their physical, mental, social, or moral development and does not interfere with their education. Only individuals who are at least 16 years old are permitted to work in "the production of bricks, tiles, firebricks, pipes, crucibles, and similar construction and architectural materials through the process of firing clay."
Despite these legal protections, many children in Turkey continue to work in sectors that are prohibited or deemed unsafe, particularly in dangerous industries such as construction, where children and young workers are often exposed to hazardous conditions despite legal protections.
According to the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG), a group monitoring work-related deaths in the country, at least 695 child laborers have died on the job over the past 11 years, with an average of 61 child worker deaths annually. Of these, 240 were between the ages of 5 and 14, while 455 were between 15 and 17 years old.
Official statistics from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) indicate that at least 720,000 children, or 4.4% of the country's child population, are employed. (HA/VK)