An Italian worker electrocuted while
working on a grain silo near Vicenza on Tuesday, local sources
said.
It was initially unclear whether he had been hit by lightning or
by electricity from the silo.
The silo was on a farm/riding school at Montecchio Maggiore.
Emergency teams rushed to the scene but were unable to do
anything for the man.
An autopsy has been ordered.
It is the latest in a long string of workplace accident deaths
in Italy.
Four other workers died on the job in one recent week including
one at the foreign ministry in Rome.
The government has taken several steps to try to stem the tide
of deaths but the spate, which grabbed public attention 18
months ago with the death of a 22-year-old mother of a
five-year-old boy, Luana D'Orazio, in a textile mill accident
near Prato on May 3, 2021, has continued unabated.
The recent fatalities were the latest in a shocking wave of
workplace accident deaths in Italy that saw 1,221 perish last
year and which has spurred government action.
Such deaths are a national tragedy, outgoing 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."
Despite this, as the deaths continued, Italy's big three
trade-union confederations, CGIL, CISL and UIL, held a major
demonstration in Rome in mid-December to demand further urgent
action on health and safety.
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.
Re-elected President Sergio Mattarella said in his second
inaugural address in February that such deaths must stop, while
Pope Francis has also joined the chorus against the phenomenon.
The government recently unveiled a fresh set of measures to up
workplace safety.
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