Industrial hygiene

At least 741 workers died in the first five months of 2017 in workplace accidents, with at least 146 worker deaths in May alone, according to a report recently released by a non-governmental organization dealing with worker health and safety issues.

Let’s be honest, most of us would prefer to not work a day or night job. We would probably like to lounge and relax without a care in the world and just enjoy the good things in life. But, that’s not how the world works, unfortunately, as those bills have to be paid somehow.

At least 415 workers have died in the first three months of 2016, according to a monthly report recently released by a non-governmental organization dealing with worker health and safety issues, with at least 157 worker deaths in March alone.

A woman and her three children have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after a gas leak at their flat in Istanbul.

The incident took place at night on Jan. 3 when the mother, 36-year-old Hediye Üzümcü, put her three kids to bed near the natural gas heater at home.

At least 1,138 workers have died in the first eight months of 2015, according to a monthly report recently released by a non-governmental organization dealing with worker health and safety issues, with at least 158 worker deaths in August alone.

At least 139 workers died as a result of workplace hazards in March 2015, with the total death toll exceeding 351 over the first three months of 2015, according to a report by the Turkey-based Workplace Health and Safety Assembly. 

Seven people are facing prison terms of up to 15 years on charges of reckless homicide in an accident which killed three workers during the construction of a viaduct for Istanbul's third bridge on April 5, 2014, according to the indictment.

The accident was "predictable and preventable, and happened as a result of imprudence and carelessness," according to an expert's report.

The question is this: The relevant law has been enacted but occupational accidents keep on repeating; we now witness worker deaths on a regular basis. Then what is the problem, where is the problem? The answer is obvious; there are laws but no law.

Some 12.1 thousand Bulgarians suffered injuries in the workplace or in work related accidents, of which 8.7 thousand or 71.8% were men.

The data was published by the National Statistical Institute, and is based on a survey conducted in 2013, however, it reflect the respondents' opinion and has not been verified by the competent institutions.