In 2022, 22 workers died at the workplace in Macedonia, while 147 were injured. These data are stated in the latest report of the Macedonian Association for Occupational Safety and Health (MZZPR).
On the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the association traditionally organized an action of planting trees in a park in the Aerodrom Municipality, this year 22 in number, one tree for each of those who died.
The report shows that the most deaths - 4 were registered in Skopje, but 3 deaths each were registered in Struga, Strumica and Negotino. Meanwhile, 39 workplace injuries were registered in Skopje. 25 in Bitola and 21 in Prilep.
Most of the deaths are in the agricultural sector, followed by the construction and manufacturing industries.
The president of the association Milan Petkovski, in a statement to the media, pointed out that compared to last year, there is a decrease of about 20% in deaths at the workplace, but there is an increase in injuries at the workplace by about 9 percent.
At the same time, he pointed out that the recording of accidents is motivated by the fact that the institutions do not publish reports, and thus the trend of not analyzing and recording them continues.
"All this, directly and indirectly, costs us, according to the formula of the International Labor Organization, in a percentage of about 4% of the GDP - 400 million euros. If someone is rich enough to pay for it, we will probably continue to have a trend of accidents at work, without analysis, without responsibility, without personal, even political responsibility, to actually think about how we should further approach creating that preventive culture at the workplace", Petkovski said.
In addition, the president of the association points out that April 28 is not meant to be celebrated, but rather to commemorate what happens to those who are voiceless, which are generally the workers who most often die at their jobs.