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At least 842 workers killed in occupational accidents in Turkey in first half of 2022: report

Turkey workers

A view of the terminal building under construction at the site of the Istanbul New Airport on April 13, 2018 during press tour in northern Istanbul. OZAN KOSE / AFP

Turkey recorded 842 deaths in work-related accidents in the country in the first six months of this year, Turkish media reported on Wednesday, citing the findings of a report by the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG).

According to the report published on the İSİG website on Wednesday, 22 minors, 53 women and 48 migrants were among the 842 people who lost their lives in workplace accidents in Turkey in the first half of 2022.

At least 187 workers died in Turkey last month, while 120 died in January, 109 in February, 121 in March, 129 in April and 176 in May, the report said, adding that the most common causes of work-related deaths in the first six months of the year were falling from heights, being crushed under heavy equipment and traffic accidents.

The majority of occupational accidents occurred in Turkey’s construction sector in the first half of this year, with 19 percent of the total, followed by agriculture (17 percent) and transportation (12 percent), according to the report.

İSİG also highlighted the high rates of hunger and poverty in the country, saying, addressing the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, “Families are fed with plenty of carbohydrates … [and] without adequate protein and vitamins. Thanks to you, we eat just to fill our stomachs, we try to eat ‘the cheapest and the most filling.’ Therefore, our children are either obese or malnourished. Our right to a healthy, adequate and balanced diet is being taken away from us.”

HungerMap, a near real-time food security monitoring system of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), revealed last month that 14.8 million people were experiencing insufficient food consumption in Turkey, a country with a population of 82.3 million.

Turkey, where workplace accidents are nearly a daily occurrence, has been suffering from low work safety standards for decades.

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