Work-related deaths in Israel among highest in West, report finds

54 laborers died in accidents in 2015, and over 50,000 were injured, resulting in billions of shekels in state payouts

The rate of worker deaths in Israel is among the highest in the West, and double that of the European Union average, according to the findings of a new Economics Ministry and National Insurance Institute report published Sunday.

Laborer deaths are on the rise when examined in five-year increments, the report said, and Israel’s 13.2 per 100,000 workers in 2013 was higher than the EU and United States. Most of the deaths are foreign laborers, the report found.

In 2015, 54 laborers died in work accidents — 34 of whom were working on construction sites — and over 50,000 workers were injured. Most of the construction workers, 21 of the 34 who died, fell to their deaths.

According to a Haaretz report in April, 15 workers died in work-related accidents in the first quarter of 2016. The Economy Ministry found that in half the cases, there were no sanctions imposed on contractors following worker deaths, according to the report.

The state paid over NIS 4.5 billion in 2015 for workers’ compensation due to injury, amounting to over two million workdays and at the expense of billions to the national economy, the Economy Ministry said.

The report’s findings “require concerted efforts to reduce work-related injuries in Israel,” head of the Economy Ministry’s safety administration told Haaretz, calling for greater cooperation to prevent accidents.

On Sunday, hours after the report was published, a worker in a Dimona factory was taken to a hospital in serious condition after a heavy object fell on him, crushing his chest.

Last week a construction worker fell to his death while working on a building on Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael. The same day, a worker was injured when he fell three stories at a Holon building site.