52 Workers Lost Their Lives Due To Coronavirus

The Occupational Health and Safety Assembly states that in the first month of the coronavirus epidemic, layoffs been experienced in 81 workplaces and 52 workers had lost their lives especially in the sectors where precarious work had been dominant.

At the same time, it was determined that workers’ health and safety measures were not taken in 251 workplaces and that the workers were forced to work in a way that they were exposed to the epidemic. The table compiled from the workplaces where production continues reveals that no precautions have been taken or that claptrap measures were taken in many sectors and workplaces, that workers are forced to work close to each other without any personal protective equipment, that they are forced to go to work in crowded shuttles and eat in crowded cafeterias until recently, and that they do not have the conditions or time to pay attention to their “personal hygiene”.

Covid-19 Cases In Workplaces

It was determined that the tests 855 people from at least 159 workplaces were positive between March 11 and April 10. Other workers who were quarantined at workplaces with positive cases were sent to their homes without any testing and the workers in quarantine were forced to get unpaid leaves.

At Least 52 Covid-19 Caused Workplace Homicides In the First Month of the Outbreak

In the first month of the epidemic that is between March 11, 2020 which is the date that the first case was announced and April 10, 2020 there were at least 52 workplace homicides due to Covid-19 across Turkey.

• 28 of 52 deaths were heard from the workers’ families, colleagues, unions, professional chambers and from local press, and 24 were heard from national press.
• 40 of those who lost their lives were wageworkers (workers and officers) and 13 of them were self-employed.
• Of those who died, 45 were men and 7 were women. The average age of the laborers who died as a result of Covid-19 was 51.
• The distribution of the deceased workers according to their branches is as follows: 15 workers from the trade / office sector, 12 workers from the healthcare profession, 7 workers from the hospitality industry, 5 workers from municipal / general sector, 2 workers from textile sector, 2 workers from banking sector, 2 workers from metal industry, 2 workers from security industry, 1 worker from mining sector, 1 from chemical / rubber industry, 1 from wood / paper industry, 1 from media sector and 1 worker from energy sector have lost their lives.
• At least 7 of the workers who had lost their lives were union members.
• In the first month of the outbreak, 29 workers in Istanbul, 4 workers in Izmir, 3 workers in Ankara, 2 in Bursa, 2 in Kocaeli, 2 in Sakarya, 2 in Uşak, 1 in Diyarbakır, 1 in Aydın, 1 in Balıkesir, 1 in Düzce, 1 in Mardin, 1 in Muğla, 1 in Zonguldak and 1 in Belgium had lost their lives.