Did not return from work ...

According to the information provided by the Sumgait City Police Department, during the cutting process a metal tank exploded, in which, as it turned out, fuel was found. As a result, the welder of the workshop - a resident of the Masalli region Gurbanov Agamali Mirzabala oglu, born in 1964, who rented an apartment in Sumgayit, was injured. The man suffered 85% of the skin. He was taken to Baku in a serious condition. Despite the efforts of specialists of the burn center, Gurbanov's life could not be saved.

Unfortunately, this is far from the only case of this kind. At the end of last year, an explosion occurred in the Lokbatan settlement of the Garadagh district of Baku at the metal processing plant owned by Turkish company ElitYatırım. As a result of the explosion, worker Bahman Mammadov died.

People die, get serious injuries in the workplace. According to official data, 140-160 accidents occur every year in Azerbaijan, as a result of which 35-40 people are killed, about 100 people are injured and become disabled.

According to the legislation of Azerbaijan, the State Labor Inspection Service of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection controls the observance of labor safety rules. Moreover, the country has a National Occupational Safety and Health Strategy, which includes a set of measures to prevent injuries in the workplace. The talk is about conducting regular inspections at enterprises, creating profile departments, organizing trainings, etc. By the way, the former Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population Salim Muslimov once suggested even creating a labor safety fund. But his idea remained unrealized.

Turan agency asked when the last time the State Service of Labor Inspectorate conducted a raid on the subject of compliance with safety rules verification in Sumgait enterprises. Unfortunately, it was not possible to get an answer to the recorder from the employees of the department, but in private conversation one of them said that inspections of companies and private enterprises are suspended, the verification is carried out on the complaint of the workers themselves or the signal of the residents. The Law on Supporting Entrepreneurship prohibits interference in business, which employers employ. Therefore, labor inspectors are rare guests at production sites.

"Unfortunately, employers save money allocated to ensure labor security, or spend them to something else. As a result, the enterprises experience fatal accidents. Employees of the State Service of Labor Inspectorate warn companies and employers about the need to comply with the rules of labor security. But all is vain," the interlocutor confessed.

However, as it turns out, the Confederation of Trade Unions of Azerbaijan follows the workplace safety. Chairman of the CPA, Sattar Mehbaliyev, recently said that labor protection in the workplace is constantly monitored. We strive to eliminate fixed discontent and shortcomings.

Expert for the protection of labor rights of the population, Sahib Mammadov, considers the official statistics on death and injury at work in the country distorted.

"The fact is that employers hide such facts, pay off due to bribes. They do not conclude labor contracts with hired workers, so in the event of emergency, workers can neither receive compensation nor prosecute the administration of the enterprise. Victims at work remain with nothing. Employers do not want to fork out to create safe working conditions. They save even on overalls, not to mention the rest things," Mammadov points out.

As for the explosion at the Sumgayit concrete plant, in the opinion of the expert, it is necessary to find out all the circumstances of the tragedy. "Did the deceased worker work on the basis of the labor contract, did he know about the contents of the container, who was responsible for the safety of work on that site? Most likely, all this was not. In our country, the informal labor market is blooming with color, people agree to any conditions of work. According to approximate estimates, about 90% of cases of industrial injuries are not fixed anywhere," Mammadov said.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that about 2.3 million men and women die each year as a result of workplace accidents or work-related illnesses, an average of 6,000 people every day. Worldwide, approximately 340 million industrial accidents and 160 million victims of occupational diseases are recorded annually. The ILO regularly updates these data, the changes of which show an increase in the number of accidents and deterioration of health.