The Decent Labor Platform responds to the fact of the death of two construction workers in Tbilisi and calls on the Labor Inspection Office to immediately examine the situation of labor safety at the workplace.
On May 14, in Artvini Street in Tbilisi, the slope collapsed during the construction works of the wall, which were underway by the order of the administration of Chugureti district that resulted in the loss of lives of 2 workers. The company “ON” performed construction works of the wall retaining the ground.
Despite providing the Labor Inspection Office with a full mandate, the state is still not able to create a decent and safe working environment for those working on the employment sites, which are hazardous, including the construction sector. Operation in the construction sector in Georgia automatically implies the continued presence of risks to life and health, which is also confirmed by the statistics of the Labor Inspection Office. Only in 2021, 37 cases of death of employees at the workplace in Georgia were reported. Most of these cases- 18 were recorded in the construction sector. The data is almost the same in 2022, with a total of 35 fatal cases, 16 of which were recorded in the construction sector.
Effective and proactive use of the mandate of the Labor Inspection Office with the aim to prevent injury and death in the sector is critically important. Nevertheless, carrying out systematic re-inspection of enterprises by the Labor Inspection Office, as well as conducting, in a timely manner, proactive inspections of the employment sites involving hazards are a challenge. In addition, it is problematic to verify the submission of qualified construction studies by the municipality in the process of granting construction permits, in order to ensure similar grave cases and damage to the environment and people.
We call on:
The Labor Inspection Office:
To immediately inspect a specific construction object; To thoroughly examine the incident, to use all the measures at its disposal, which fall within the scope of its competence, to severely punish the responsible person, as well as to guarantee safety at the place of employment;
The Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs:
To ensure a timely, complete, and effective investigation of the fact of death at the workplace, with the aim of identifying the responsible persons and applying the strictest measures of responsibility.
Signatories:
- Open Society Georgia Foundation
- Center for Social Justice
- Unity 2013
- Solidarity Network
- Georgian Young Lawyers Association
- Trade Union of Science, Education, and Culture
- Guild