25 workers were dead in 109 workplace accidents reported during the last 6 months in Albania.
The number was reported by Irena Gjoka, who works for the State Labour Inspectorate.
Companies are required by law to report accidents to state institutions but Gjoka said that many of them fail to do so – they either don’t report or report accidents late.
“In 10 percent of cases we have reviewed, the accidents were reported by the media, people involved in the accident or their relatives,” she said.
It’s not clear which cases were reviewed and based on what selection criteria.
Most workplace accidents occur in mines, inward processing, construction, and manufacturing industries. Of all accidents, 23 percent occur in construction, which also has the highest rate of accidents resulting in death.
Gjoka said that with only 98 inspectors, the Labour Inspectorate can only cover about 6 percent of all companies. She blamed companies for not implementing preemptive safety measures at workplace.
The Labour Inspectorate official announced that 16 companies were temporarily suspended during the last two months for not meeting safety standards.
The timing of suspensions coincides with the media attention on deaths of 4 construction workers in three workplace accidents during July and August.
