Over 1,800 agricultural workers killed on the job in a decade

The Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG) has published a report detailing the record of work-related fatalities in the agricultural sector over the past decade, referencing the ongoing resistance of Agrobay greenhouse company workers.

According to İSİG, from 2013 to the present, at least 1,803 agricultural workers have lost their lives in work-related accidents. The report provides a yearly breakdown of fatalities, with 122 in 2013, 140 in 2014, 202 in 2015, 177 in 2016, 154 in 2017, 184 in 2018, 190 in 2019, 215 in 2020, 149 in 2021, 180 in 2022, and 90 in the first eight months of 2023.

The İSİG highlighted that out of these workers, 346 were women, and 1,457 were men, emphasizing that the mortality rate for women workers in the sector is approximately three times higher than the overall average for work-related fatalities.

Gender gap

The report pointed out that women seasonal agricultural workers constitute nearly half of total employment in seasonal agriculture, often taking on domestic work in addition to fieldwork. They tend to receive lower wages than their male counterparts despite working the same or even longer hours.

The majority of these workers are not covered by insurance, and their employment status is not reflected in the Social Security Institution's Occupational Accident Statistics, according to İSİG.

Seasonal work

The report attributed the high rate of work-related accidents in the agricultural sector to seasonal work, with August having the highest average number of fatalities over the past decade (averaging 24 workers). Conversely, January had the lowest average number of worker deaths (averaging 6).

The leading causes of work-related deaths were traffic accidents and accidents involving transportation vehicles used for agricultural labor, such as closed-cabin trucks and tractors. İSİG cited these inappropriate transportation conditions as a significant contributing factor. The report also listed 24 traffic accidents in which at least 4 workers lost their lives.

Child workers

According to İSİG, 235 of the workers who lost their lives in work-related accidents over the past decade (13%) were children. Of these, 101 were under 14 years old, and 134 were between 15 and 17 years old. Additionally, 363 workers were between 50 and 64 years old, and 104 were 65 years old or older.

A total of 254 workers were migrants or refugees, with 130 coming from Syria, 84 from Afghanistan, and others from various countries such as Georgia, Turkmenistan, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Tajikistan.

Unionization 

Remarkably, only 15 of the deceased workers (0.83%) were union members, while 1,788 (99.17%) were not affiliated with any trade union. İSİG noted that, according to the July 2023 statistics released by the Ministry of Labor, there are 192,000 workers in the agricultural sector, with 28% of them being union members. However, the actual number of uninsured workers is significantly higher than official figures suggest, and the majority of unionized workers are employed continuously in forestry. (HA/VK)