A 39-year-old Italian diver died in a
workplace accident at a fish farm owned by a firm at Piombino
near Livorno on Thursday, local sources said.
The accident happened in the Golfo di Follonica near Grosseto.
Rescue teams said the man was probably hit by a boat.
An ambulance rushed to the scene but could do nothing for the
victim.
Police are trying to reconstruct what happened.
Italy is in the middle of a spate of fatal workplace accidents
which has spurred calls to raise workplace safety.
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,
placed the issue at the centre of public debate once again.
Another five people died at work in the first week of May, in
accidents. They were followed by six more in June.
Premier Mario Draghi said that more must be done on workplace
safety.
Over 2,000 additional workplace safety inspectors will
be hired adding to the 4,500 now on duty, he said.
Italy's recent spate of fatal workplace accidents continued on
August with two more deaths.
A 36-year-old man died at a foundry that produces aluminium
components for cars in San Paolo d'Argon, in the northern
province of Bergamo, following a fall, Regional Emergency Agency
AREU said .
Also, a 56-year-old man is dead after suffering burns on 70% of
his body in a workplace accident in Asti, sources said.
The man was a technician who was working at a retail outlet, the
sources said.
Two workers died in Italy on August 9, including an 18-year-old
who fell down a gorge on his first day on the job as a game
warden.
The spate of workplace deaths includes that of Laila El Harim, a
40-year-old woman originally from Morocco who died on August 4
at a plant at Camposanto, in the northern province of Modena,
after getting caught up in the machine she was working on.
She left behind a four-year-old daughter and her partner.
The head of Italy's workplace accident and occupational illness
insurance agency INAIL blasted the situation as
"shameful".
"A leap forward in relation to workplace security and prevention
is fundamentally important because you can't keep having these
deaths," INAIL President Franco Bettoni told RAI television.
"We have to keep investing in prevention and INAIL will continue
to do this together with businesses and trade unions.
"It is necessary to develop a culture of safety, starting from
school, and INAIL will work on this too".
Maurizio Landini, the leader of Italy's biggest trade-union
confederation CGIL, suggested introducing a points-based penalty
system regarding workplace accidents for firms, like that of
driving licences.
"The time has come to make serious investments," Landini said.
"And a points-based licence is needed too so that firms with too
many accidents cannot continue to take part in public tenders".
El Harim was not trained to use the machine that killed her,
investigators have concluded.
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