Turkey: At least 2,170 workers died at work in 2021

The Workers Health and Safety Assembly (ISIG) has released its annual report on work-related fatalities. According to the report, at least 2,170 workers died at work last year. 1864 of them were wage workers and 306 of them were self-employed workers.

The report revealed that 345 workers lost their lives in the fields of trade, office, education, and cinema, 318 workers in agriculture and forestry, 335 workers in construction and road building, and 229 workers in health and social services.

According to the report, 625 workers lost their lives due to the pandemic, 342 died in traffic accidents and 269 were buried in the wreckage.

Victims of workplace deaths included 165  women and 2,005 men. Among them were 21 children aged 14 and under, and 94 refugees.

According to the report, 2,048 people who lost their lives were not members of a labour union while only 122 of them were unionised.

The majority of the work-related deaths took place in big cities. Accordingly, 260 workers died in Istanbul, 102 in İzmir, 99 in Kocaeli, 73 in Bursa, 72 in Antalya and 19 in Diyarbakir.

The cities with the least number of deaths are as follows: Ağrı, Hakkari, Siirt, Batman, Niğde and Yozgat.

2,427 workers lost their lives in Turkey in 2020, 1,736 workers in 2019 and 1,923 workers in 2018, according to ISIG.