In Turkey, worker deaths are usually a small news item. It appears on the third page of newspapers, sometimes a paragraph, sometimes a few lines. “Worker dies after falling at construction site.” Then life goes on. Because these deaths have become commonplace most of the time and only make noise when there are major disasters. However, the real reality of work accidents is in the accidents that happen every day and are glossed over with a few lines.
According to the Social Security Institution, approximately 600 thousand work accidents occur in Turkey every year. This means more than 1500 accidents per day on average.
And an average of four workers lose their lives every day.
The number may seem small. But the reality is that almost every day a worker loses his or her life in this country.
Moreover, these figures are only registered accidents. In agriculture, small businesses and areas where unregistered work is widespread, many accidents are not even included in the statistics. The real picture is probably much graver than this.
Work accidents are not a new problem in Turkey. In the early 2000s, the annual number of work accidents was around 70-80 thousand. Today, this number has reached 600 thousand. Of course, the development of the registration system explains some of this increase. But this is not the only reason.
Production grew in Turkey. Cities grew. Construction sites grew.
But the culture of occupational safety has not grown at the same pace.
Today, it is often stated that Turkey has a higher death rate as a result of occupational accidents compared to European countries. In other words, the issue is not only to produce, but also to protect human life while producing.
The picture is already clear when we look at the sectors with the highest number of accidents. Construction, mining, metal industry, agriculture and transportation.
Today we look at the buildings rising in our cities. But we hardly talk about the life behind those buildings. There are thousands of people who get on the bus very early in the morning and work in risky jobs all day long.
There are also some great pains in Turkey's memory. For example, the mining disaster in Soma. 301 workers lost their lives. Then there was another mining accident in Ermenek. In Istanbul, an elevator fell at the Torun Center construction site and workers lost their lives.
These events have created great controversy. But it is not only about these major disasters. Accidents happen on days when there are no major disasters. And most of the time they happen quietly.
Child labor is another side of the issue.
Children who should be in school work in workshops, industry and fields. They are often exposed to the same risky conditions as adults. And every year some children die in work accidents.
I am a plastic surgeon. Most of the time I see work accidents in the hospital, not on the third page of newspapers.
Sometimes in the outpatient clinic.
Sometimes in the emergency room.
Sometimes in the operating room.
A young worker arrives with a severed finger.
A crushed hand.
A person with severe facial trauma after a fall from a height.
Some survive. But their lives are never the same.
Because work accidents do not only mean death. It also means disability. It means loss of limbs. It means that a person becomes unable to work.
And often it is not only the worker who pays the price.
A family pays.
He pays for a house.
A child's future pays.
Work accidents in Turkey are not a matter that can be explained only by individual mistakes. There is a lack of supervision. There is subcontracted work. There are long working hours. And most of the time the worker has no power to object.
Because he is afraid of losing his job.
A country's development is not only measured by the roads, bridges or buildings it builds. It is also measured by how safe the people who build those roads are.
On average, four workers lose their lives every day in Turkey.
But it's not just about death.
Because work accidents often cut a person's life in half.
If a death or injury can be foreseen and prevented, how accurate is it to call it an accident?
If the life of a worker is cheap in a country, no development story can really be described as a success.