A total of 164 people died in workplace accidents in Turkey in October, according to a monthly report prepared by the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG), the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported.
Four minors were among the reported work-related fatalities.
Construction was the leading sector to record fatalities among workplace accidents, representing 30 percent of the deaths. Agriculture was second, with 18 percent, followed by transportation with 11 percent.
The most frequent cause of death was falling from a height, which accounted for 19 percent of all workplace deaths, while experiencing a heart attack represented 18 percent and traffic accidents accounted for 15 percent.
Lax work safety standards have been a significant cause of concern for decades in Turkey, where workplace accidents are a nearly daily occurrence. İSİG reported nearly 2,000 work-related deaths in 2023.
According to İSİG, more than 30,000 occupational accidents have been reported since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002.
İSİG General Coordinator Murat Çakır earlier said the reason for the large number of fatalities in work-related accidents has to do with the policies of the AKP, which he said aim to turn Turkey into a source of cheap labor for Europe.
According to Çakır, workers feel obliged to work under unsafe conditions, fearing that they will otherwise be unable to support their family.
İSİG began to record occupational fatalities in 2011. The group records the number of workers who die due to the lack of workplace safety and campaigns for stricter workplace safety measures.
A yearly report produced by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on labor rights revealed that Turkey is one of the 10 worst countries in the world for workers in industrial sectors. According to the Brussels-based ITUC, workers’ freedoms and rights have been further denied since police crackdowns on protests in Turkey in 2023.