In one of the organizations, during excavation work, an employee working in a 3-meter-deep trench was buried under soil due to a collapse of the trench wall. Unfortunately, he could not be saved. Another worker was crushed under a forklift load and succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. A third worker fell from a low height, hitting his head on the ground, resulting in a fatal injury. Such workplace accidents occur quite frequently.
There have also been cases of group accidents. For instance, on one construction site, two workers fell from a height, one of whom did not survive. In a road traffic accident, 19 employees from a single enterprise were injured.
In all these cases, technical labor inspectors from the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan and sectoral trade unions participate in the investigations.
The primary causes of workplace injuries remain the following:
- Human Factor – Actions or inactions by either the injured worker or a responsible official, as well as allowing untrained and unbriefed individuals to work.
- Technogenic Factor – Outdated equipment and technologies, as well as the impact of moving, flying, or rotating objects and parts.
- Financial Factor – Insufficient funding for measures aimed at improving working conditions.
In light of this, it is necessary to strengthen the demand on employers to ensure safe and healthy working conditions, with a focus on preventing workplace injuries.
Head of the Technical Labor Inspection of the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan
D.K. Tynybekov