According to the Occupational and Health Safety Board, 97 people died in the last nine years in Izmir, including women and refugees. Meanwhile, the environmental risks associated with the dismantling of a Brazilian aircraft carrier become a topic of discussion.
Izmir (AsiaNews/Agencies) – According to a report by the Occupational and Health Safety Board (İSIG[*]) at least 97 workers died at the Aliağa ship breaking yard in Izmir over a nine-year period following the adoption of a occupational safety law in 2013.
This comes as discussions are underway about the risks associated with the dismantling of a Brazilian aircraft carrier at the Izmir yard. Environmental groups fear that the process could release tonnes of hazardous substances, including asbestos.
According to the İSIG report cited by the Bianet news agency, the most common causes of death among workers are crushing, explosion, fire and falls. Over the past year, seven workers have been killed in ship demolitions.
“Every year, about 2,000 workers are killed while working in Turkey. There are about 1,500 ship-breaking workers in Aliağa. Proportionally, the mortality rate in the Aliağa ship-breaking sector is 30 times higher the official worker mortality rate in Turkey," İSG said.
Subcontracting and casual labourers are widespread at Aliağa, the İSG notes. All 11 construction workers and 11 of the 16 chemistry workers killed at the yard were casual labourers. The dead included two women and three refugees.
Last year, SÖK Denizcilik was awarded a US$ 1.85 million contract to dismantle the decommissioned Brazilian carrier.
The ship contains tonnes of hazardous chemicals, asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and furans, and various heavy metals, like mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, nickel, manganese, zinc, iron, etc.
The Turkish Ministry of Environment authorised the operation claiming that the risks are minimal.
[*] İş sağlığı ve güvenliği.