A 51-year-old worker was crushed to
death in a hopper in a building material production plant at
Bibbiena near Arezzo in southeastern Tuscany on Tuesday.
The accident at the cement factory is the latest in a shocking
wave of workplace accident deaths in Italy that has spurred
government action.
Such deaths are a national tragedy, Justice Minister Marta
Cartabia said on October 22.
She said the government had intervened by increasing the number
of inspectors and checks, but a new law on administrative
responsibility would be even more useful in stopping the rash of
fatalities.
Premier Mario Draghi said on October 17 that workplace safety
norms recently approved by the government sent the "unequivocal
signal that you cannot save (money) at the expense of workers'
lives" after the spate continued with four more deaths in one
day.
"As the government, we committed ourselves to doing everything
possible to prevent these episodes happening again," Draghi
said.
"The norms are the realisation of this promise. We are
increasing the numbers of workplace inspectors, we are
stiffening sanctions, we are boosting computerization to improve
checks."
Italy's big three trade-union confederations, CGIL, CISL and
UIL, held a major demonstration in Rome last month to demand
urgent action on health and safety to stem the tide of deaths.
There were over 800 fatal workplace accidents in Italy in
2021.
The issue has been top of public debate in Italy since the death
of the 22-year-old mother of a five-year-old boy, Luana
D'Orazio, in a textile mill accident near Prato on May 3.
Turin held a day of mourning on December 21 for three workers
who died when a large crane collapsed in the northern city the
previous weekend.
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