Workplace Accident in Catania Leaves One Dead, One Injured

Catania: A workplace accident near Catania on Monday left one dead and one injured as Italy’s long spate of accidental workplace fatalities continued. A 58-year-old man is dead and a 34-year-old man is injured after the accident at a glass factory on Via Monte Grappa in San Giovanni La Punta, in the Catania area. Carabinieri from the Gravina di Catania company and personnel from the Labor Inspectorate responded to the scene.

According to Ansa News Agency, the injured man was transported to the emergency room of the Policlinico hospital by a 118 helicopter. The Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation.

The last workplace tragedy struck in Rome on Friday, the latest in the long spate that has prompted government action, with one worker dead and one injured. Firefighters who responded to the plant of an electronics company on Via Tiburtina, at kilometer 13,700, reported the incident. The worker was reportedly crushed to death by machinery. Before that, a 67-year-old worker died after being hit by a truck at the port of Ravenna Thursday.

The case followed two workplace deaths last Monday, one near Macerata and one near Catania. Workplace deaths are a major problem in Italy and Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government has said boosting health and safety is a priority. Work-related deaths in Italy rose by one last year to 1,202, workplace accident and occupation illness insurance agency INAIL said in its annual report in July. At recent labour protests, trade unions have said three workers currently die each day in their places of work in Italy.