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Workplace Fatalities Highest in Tehran

Occupational fatality has seen a declining trend over the past two years.
Occupational fatality has seen a declining trend over the past two years.

The largest number of deaths at the workplace occurred in Tehran Province in the first ten months of the current fiscal year that ends in March, registering a 4.11% rise compared to the same period last year, the Iran Legal Medicine Organization (ILMO) reported.

It’s latest data reported 303 cases of death due to workplace accidents in the period, up from 272 cases in the previous year, IRNA reported.

The January 19 collapse of the high-rise Plasco Building in downtown Tehran that took the lives of 16 firefighters as well and four workers had the biggest share in occupational fatalities in both the capital city and province.

Fars and Khorasan Razavi provinces came second and third with 97 and 92 incidents of workplace deaths, respectively.

South Khorasan and Kohgiluyeh Boyer-Ahmad (nine deaths each), North Khorasan and Ilam (10) and Zanjan and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari (12) were at the bottom of the list with the smallest number of fatalities.

Nationwide figures show that 1,367 workers (including 1,348 men and 19 women) met with a fatal end at the workplace due to accidents, in the first 10 months of the year.

Falls from a high place (mostly at construction sites) were responsible for 41.9% of the deaths followed by being struck by hard objects that caused the deaths of 23.5% workers.

Electrocution (14.6%), anoxia (6.3%), burns (5.1%) and other incidents (8.6%) were among the other causes of work fatality.

Occupational fatality, however, has seen a declining trend over the past two years. The previous year (ended March 2016) saw a 21% decrease over the prior year.

The fiscal year March 2014-2015 had a 5.2% decline in workplace deaths compared to the preceding year.

 Common Causes

An occupational fatality is a death that occurs while a person is at work or performing work-related tasks.

Common causes include falls from heights, machine-related injuries, motor vehicle accidents, electrocution and falling objects.

Many factors contribute to occupational deaths. Lack of appropriate employee training and failure to provide or enforce safety measures while using machinery, often contribute to occupational fatalities.

Globally, men account for 92% of work-related deaths. The industries with the highest death rates are mining, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and construction, all of which employ more men than women.

In Iran, 60% of worker deaths are attributed to accidents in the construction industry mostly due to falls from heights or elevator shafts, suffocation by gas, and collapse of workshops or walls.

 

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