Twenty two children aged 14 or below were among 1,932 workers known to have died in workplace incidents in Turkey in 2023, according to a report by the Turkish Workers’ Health and Safety Assembly (ISIG).

Another 32 aged 15 to 17 were also among the victims, according to the organisation. It compiled data from news reports, occupational safety specialists, workplace doctors and unions to establish some shocking conclusions.

ISIG also stated in its report that since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, at least 32,478 workers have lost their lives in Turkey in work-related incidents.

The ISIG Assembly criticised the Erdogan administration, saying: "Whether you enact Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety or give speeches about there being 'reduced worker deaths proportionally,' the reality remains unchanged. The AKP has turned job insecurity into today's proletarian work and life discipline." 

The rhetoric of “economic development, growth, Advanced Turkey, New Turkey, indigenous-national and Turkey’s Century” used by AKP officials over the past 22 years did not mean that anything had changed for the working class and the people of Turkey during that time, the Congress added.

On the contrary, it said, each passing year brings laws that disadvantage workers, rising inflation, declining purchasing power and ongoing repression aimed at opposing the struggle for rights and freedoms, while shaping a “workplace homicide regime”, it concluded.

Among the deceased workers recorded last year, 147 were women and 1,785 were men. Age-related information for 163 of the workers who died remained unknown, ISIG said. 

A total of 106 of the deceased workers were refugees or migrant workers. Only 54 of the workers who lost their lives (2.79%) were unionised. 

The highest number of fatalities (389) occurred in the construction and road-building sectors. Close behind was agriculture and forestry (371, broken down as 194 workers and 177 farmers).

The transportation sector saw 221 fatalities, said ISIG’s report, while accommodation and entertainment recorded 157, and municipal and general services 100 . 

Listed fatality categories included: traffic and services accidents (444), incidents involving crushing and the collapsing of structures (291), falls from heights (259), heart attacks and strokes (218), deaths during earthquakes (158), electric shocks (105), workplace violence (85), explosions and burns (80), poisoning and drowning (64), workplace suicides (64), object impacts and falls (35), cutting and severing (17) and other reasons (112). 

The annual report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on labour rights lately ranked Turkey as one of the 10 worst countries in the world for working people. According to the Brussels-based ITUC, workers’ freedoms and rights continued to be relentlessly denied in 2022, including via the use of police crackdowns on protests.