Georgia's Labor Inspectorate: 45 Died, 168 Injured at Workplaces in 2019

Georgia’s Labor Inspection Department under the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, released a summary of its activities for 2019, which reads that a total of 45 employees were killed and 168 were injured in the workplace last year.

The report also reads that compared to the previous data, the number of people killed in the workplace has fallen by 24% and the number of injured by 16%. To note, in 2018, 59 employees died in industrial accidents and 199 were injured, which was an increase compared to the previous year.

The inspection noted that the construction, processing and mining fields are the key areas where death and injury in the manufacturing process in 2019 were most frequently reported. The majority of industrial cases were recorded in Tbilisi.

More than half those killed and injured last year were from the construction sector, according to the report. Specifically, 29 people were killed and 54 injured in the construction sector in 2019.

Last year five people were killed and 42 injured in the processing industry. The processing industry is a large sector that combines both food and textile production, as well as petroleum products, chemicals and metals. The report does not include more specific data.

Three were killed and 16 injured in the mining industry. This field includes extraction of coal and metal ores in Georgia’s western cities of Chiatura and Tkibuli.

The report says that four workers died and six were injured in the electricity supply sector, one died and 24 were hurt in the transport and warehousing sector, and two were killed and 13 injured in the water supply and waste management sector. One died and six were injured in oil trade and five employees were injured in the provision of accommodation and food supply activities. Two workers were injured in the agriculture sector in 2019.

The Labor Inspectorate report reads that nine of the total injured were women and159 were men, and all of the dead workers in 2019 were men.

In sum, in 2011-2019, 435 people died in industrial accidents and 1280 were injured.

The report also says that last year 1264 inspections were carried out at 558 facilities. Most frequently inspected were the construction sector and manufacturing industries, and 62% of these were located in Tbilisi.

The Labor Inspectorate found 4806 violations during the inspection process, and the percentage of violations was distributed as follows:

• 11% - Lack of risk assessment

• 10% - work without personal protective equipment

• 9% - Lack of giving proper instructions

• 9% - No alcohol control

• 9% - Absence of recording, investigating and analyzing industrial cases

• 6% - No security specialist

• 5% - Lack of insurance for employees at risk

• 5% - Neglecting first aid measures

The report explains that for early-stage discrepancies, enterprises are warned about the punitive measures for administrative offenses.

"After the warning, 127 enterprises [in 2019] fully eliminated the violations and 202 were fined from GEL 200 ($71) to GEL14,000 ($5,017) for violating labor safety standards," the report reads.

The Labor Inspectorate says two enterprises were fined GEL 50,000 ($17,921) for critical violations over two calendar years, while seven enterprises were fined between GEL 4000 and 14,000 GEL for obstructing the work of the inspectors.

“The administrative fine of 28 enterprises was set at GEL 1000 ($358) for failure to register their businesses as ‘high risk, heavy, harmful and dangerous activities’ in the Registry of Economic Activities,” the agency reports.

At 92 sites, after a Court decision, the work process was suspended due to a critical breach of safety standards.

To note, from 1 September 2019, the Law of Georgia on Labor Safety applies not only to the dangerous, heavy and hazardous labor fields, but to all sectors of economic activity, and the supervisory body is authorized to check any workspace covered by the inspectorate mandate without prior warning and at any time of day or night.

By Tea Mariamidze

Image source: postimees.ee