At least 177 workers died in Turkey during May in job-related incidents, according to a new report released by the Health and Safety Labour Watch Turkey (İSİG). The figure brings the total number of worker deaths in the first five months of 2025 to 796, spotlighting chronic safety failures, exploitative labour conditions and a deeply entrenched lack of union representation across key industries.
The deaths occurred in 54 provinces and across multiple sectors including construction, agriculture, mining, transport and services. İstanbul, Aydın, Muğla and Sakarya recorded the highest fatality numbers. Most victims were non-unionised workers, and among the dead were six children and seven migrant labourers.
“These are not accidents. These are preventable killings resulting from systemic negligence and unprotected labour,” İSİG said in a statement. The organisation, which compiles data from news reports, workers’ families and local activists, has long warned of Turkey’s failure to enforce occupational safety standards.
The leading causes of death in May were traffic accidents, being crushed or buried in workplace collapses, heart attacks and brain haemorrhages often linked to exhaustion, and falls from heights – particularly in the construction sector. Sectors with the highest fatalities included construction (38 deaths), agriculture (35), transport (20), and metal work (13).
Among the most striking cases was the death of textile worker Erol Eğrek, who reportedly suffered a fatal heart attack after protesting unpaid wages outside Çalık Holding. Another was Ahmet Toygar, a miner who died from silicosis, a lung disease he contracted 21 years ago while working underground. Two livestock breeders also died after contracting Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, highlighting insufficient occupational health precautions in rural sectors.
Children and migrant workers continued to be among the most vulnerable. Three of the six children who died were working in the agricultural sector. The seven migrant deaths – including five Syrians, an Azerbaijani and an Iranian – occurred in physically demanding and poorly regulated jobs in farming, mining, textiles and construction.
The report also revealed that 95 percent of the workers who died were not unionised, underscoring the barriers to collective bargaining and workplace safety advocacy in Turkey. İSİG denounced the structural conditions that make organising difficult, saying, “The lack of union rights and legal enforcement means that employers operate without accountability, and workers without protection.”
Although Turkey is party to international labour conventions, enforcement remains weak. Legal penalties for workplace deaths are rare and typically minimal. Investigations, if opened at all, often result in symbolic fines rather than systemic change.
The month’s report ends with a message of solidarity to workers currently resisting exploitative practices across the country, citing strikes and protests at companies including KRT TV, Queen Tarım, Şişli Municipality, and Henkel. “We salute the workers fighting for dignity and safety,” the statement read.
Despite public outcry and mounting evidence of the human cost, systemic improvements remain elusive. Worker deaths continue to be treated as individual misfortunes rather than a national crisis. Labour rights advocates are calling on the government to implement stricter safety regulations, bolster union protections, and ensure accountability for employers who violate the law.
As summer approaches, experts warn that seasonal work in agriculture and construction will only increase the risks without urgent reforms. Until then, Turkey’s workers remain exposed to a lethal combination of economic precarity, regulatory neglect and political indifference.
