Statement from TMMOB regarding the explosion in Balıkesir: All those responsible must resign!

The Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) has issued a statement regarding the explosion in Balıkesir that claimed the lives of 12 people. In the statement released by TMMOB, it was declared, "All those responsible must resign." The measures that need to be taken were listed one by one. 

In the statement signed by TMMOB Board Chairman Emin Koramaz, it was stated, "The cause of the explosion in Balıkesir may be factors such as the presence of more explosives in the work environment than necessary, an increase in production speed to meet rising customer demand, a disorganized and unsafe work environment, and the potential use of heaters due to cold weather conditions." 

The full text of the statement is as follows: 

"We woke up once again to news of worker deaths. According to initial reports, 13 workers lost their lives in an explosion that occurred this morning at a factory in Balıkesir that produces ammunition, civilian explosives, hunting and sports cartridges, and signal flares. We extend our condolences to the families of the workers who lost their lives and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured.

Every work accident and every workplace homicide occurs inevitably due to measures that were not taken. The cause of the explosion in Balıkesir may be factors such as the presence of more explosives in the work environment than necessary, an increase in production speed to meet rising customer demand, a disorganized and unsafe work environment, and the potential use of heaters due to cold weather conditions. All these negative situations can be prevented by prioritizing worker health and safety, valuing workers' lives, inspecting workplaces, and applying necessary penalties and sanctions to employers. Therefore, the main reason for the year-on-year increase in work accidents and workplace homicides in our country is political. It is a consequence of the relevant ministries failing to fulfill their duties properly.

THEY MANAGED WORKING LIFE THROUGH DEATHS

In our country, there is Law No. 6331 on Occupational Health and Safety as a specific law regarding worker health and safety. During the preparation and enactment process of the law, TMMOB and other professional organizations and unions stated that this law would ignore employer responsibilities rather than ensuring worker health and safety, would commercialize this field, and would transfer it to commercial entities called OSGBs (Joint Health and Safety Units), and that deaths would not decrease but rather increase. Unfortunately, events have proven us right. The political power must account for the 19,000 workers who have lost their lives in workplaces since the adoption of this law.

We have stated repeatedly that worker health and safety cannot be managed solely in line with the political preferences of the government, and that it must be managed by a National Occupational Health and Safety Institution that is administratively and financially independent from capital and the political power, and which includes professional organizations and unions in its composition. The AKP government turned a deaf ear to this vital proposal; it did not want to manage this field, and in fact, due to its political preferences, it managed it through work accidents and deaths.

First with Labor Law No. 4857, and later with Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, ensuring worker health and safety was removed from being an employer obligation and left to market conditions. Essentially, worker health and safety was transferred to Joint Health and Safety Units (OSGBs), which are commercial entities. In addition to winning contracts by offering the lowest bids to workplaces, OSGBs also interfered with the duties of occupational safety specialists and workplace physicians.

NOT A SINGLE WORKPLACE WAS INSPECTED UNTIL MARCH 2024

Workplaces were not inspected; in particular, no inspections were conducted during election periods. Not a single workplace was inspected between May 2023 and the end of March 2024. When workplaces were inspected, administrative fines were not applied. When a work accident occurred, resulting in injury or death, it was not the employers but the occupational safety specialists who were detained, arrested, and penalized as the “usual suspects.”

Until now, while capital has increased its profits, the wages of workers and their share of the Gross Domestic Product have fallen. The minimum wage has become the average wage, and 1,966 workers lost their lives in work accidents in 2023. Thousands of deaths that are accepted as resulting from occupational diseases according to ILO norms have been hidden from the public.

MINISTRY PREPARING TO DISTRIBUTE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY CERTIFICATES WITHOUT EXAMS

There are still articles of Law No. 6331 that have not been put into effect. For example, the obligation to employ specialists and physicians in low-hazard workplaces with fewer than 50 employees and in public workplaces has been postponed for 12 years with temporary articles. The duration of the temporary article expires on December 31, 2024, but the political power does not dare to postpone it again. In cooperation with TOBB and OSGBs, it is preparing to make a regulation change to issue certificates solely upon application, by removing the training and examination requirements for obtaining an occupational safety specialist certificate, in order to be able to employ specialists at low wages...

The need of the day is not to make obtaining a professional certificate exam-free. The cause of work accidents and deaths, the 6 lives lost in workplaces every day, and the massacres in Soma, Amasra, Ermenek, Hendek, and Balıkesir is not an insufficient number of specialists or the specialists themselves. There is a sufficient number of certified specialists for workplaces.

The need of the day is for all those responsible for this period, in which thousands of workers have died, to resign.

The need of the day is to develop an effective inspection system in workplaces and to apply deterrent penalties to employers.

The need of the day is to establish a National Occupational Health and Safety Institution, which is administratively and financially independent from capital and the political power, and which includes professional organizations and unions in its composition, to reorganize the field of worker health and safety.

The need of the day is for the “National Occupational Health and Safety Council,” whose existence was effectively ended by the Presidential Government System, to be convened urgently until the institution is established.

The need of the day is to reorganize the labor law, the worker health and safety law, the social security law, and the union and collective bargaining law.

MEASURES THAT MUST BE TAKEN

The regulations to be made must also cover the following points. Job security must be tied to strict rules in labor law. There should be no flexibility in the law under any circumstances. Guarantees must be provided for workers' receivables. The penalties in the law must be increased.

• The OSGB system must be abolished.

• The training of specialists and physicians must be conducted by professional organizations. Renewal training must be introduced. The work of specialists and physicians must be audited by professional organizations.

• Workplaces must be inspected; fines and workplace closure penalties must be applied for deficiencies, and fines must be increased.

• Unions should be able to inspect workplaces in their sector at any time regarding worker health and safety, and if they deem it necessary, they should be able to provide expert support from professional organizations.

• Employee representatives/union representatives should have the authority to conduct inspections and reporting within the scope of worker health and safety in workplaces every day for a period to be determined based on the number of employees.

• A fatal work accident must be a reason for stopping work at the workplace, and it should only be allowed to reopen after the requirements in the report prepared by professional chambers and unions following their inspection are met.

• In investigations conducted after work accidents, the main criterion must be the fact that ensuring worker health and safety in workplaces is an employer obligation.

• In sectors such as construction and mining, if there are 50 or more employees, a full-time occupational safety specialist must be employed."