Eskisehir Disaster: Occupational Safety Experts Sound the Alarm, "Deaths Could Have Been Prevented"

Istanbul - The deaths of 5 forestry workers and 5 AKUT volunteers during the response to a forest fire in Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir have once again painfully brought the issue of occupational health and safety (OHS) in Turkey to the agenda. Occupational Safety Expert Bedri Tekin and Eskişehir Bilecik Medical Chamber President Nazan Aksaray emphasized that the deaths are "occupational homicide" and completely preventable. Experts said that the authorities should not only express condolences but also take the necessary measures to prevent such disasters.

"We are Accustomed to Death, No One is Accountable"

Occupational Safety Expert Bedri Tekin stated that Turkey has become a country "accustomed" to workplace murders such as Amasra, Kartalkaya and Soma. Tekin said, "All these deaths can be prevented. There is nothing that cannot be prevented, but these murders cannot be prevented because no one is held accountable. Authorities also wish mercy to the dead and condolences to their relatives. But what they should do is to prevent these deaths," he said, drawing attention to systemic problems.

"Priority should be Life, Risk Analysis is a Must!"

Tekin stated that human life should be the first priority in firefighting activities, and that this does not mean "let the forests burn". "What we call risk analysis is the prevention of floods and fires by asking in advance if there will be floods and fires here and why. If you privatize the distribution of electrical energy, you increase the possibility of fire if the private sector is cutting trees even in summer," he said, stressing that the causes of fire should be determined and preventive measures should be taken.

"No One Cares About Worker Safety, Official Data Cry Blood"

Reminding that according to the statistics of the Social Security Institution (SGK), 1900 lives were lost in work murders, Tekin said, "Have we heard anything about this from the minister of labor and social security? Now the minister of agriculture and forestry will also offer condolences. But there is nothing about how we intervene to put out fires, how we ensure the safety of the personnel who intervene. Because they are not held to account. That's why we are losing lives," he said, adding that worker safety is not given enough importance by the authorities.

"Lack of Planning and Education Trigger Deaths"

Occupational Safety Expert Bedri Tekin emphasized the lack of planning and training in fire fighting. "Everything needs to be evaluated and planned in advance. Pointing out that volunteers try to intervene in fires because there is no planning and that they also lose their lives, Tekin said, 'The safety of the people who enter the fire extinguisher must also be ensured. It is necessary to know where and how the fire spreads and what kind of situations will be encountered during the fire." Stating that the forest workers' training center in Buca, Izmir was closed years ago and that the level of education of contracted workers in the field remains uncertain, Tekin said, "There should be personal protective equipment in worker health and safety, but the most important thing is not to come into contact with toxic, flammable things that can harm people. In other words, the important thing is that those who intervene in the fire should be ensured to intervene in the fire so as not to harm themselves."

"Inexperienced Workers Died, This Is Not a Disaster but a Preventable Suffering"

President of the Eskişehir Bilecik Medical Chamber Nazan Aksaray underlined that what happened was a work murder and could have been prevented. Aksaray, who talked to experts in the region, said, "Lack of equipment, adequate personnel, experienced staff and training come to the fore. The personnel in the field should be very well trained, but we learned that the camp where these personnel were trained was closed years ago. Among the dead are contracted workers who were hired only 1-1.5 months ago. Senior experienced staff were retired. A forest engineer says that they say 'We can predict the direction of a fire even by looking at the sky', but the personnel without adequate training cannot know this. In other words, we are not facing a disaster but a preventable great pain." Aksaray also pointed out that on the day of this tragedy, the "plunder law" that opened forests to the plunder of companies was passed into law, implying that what happened was not independent of political preferences.

source: universal.net