Worker crushed to death in hopper

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 25 - 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. (ANSA).