Report

Subject:                     Italy - Three Die in Sarroch Refinery Incident

Date of Email report:   Thu 28/05/2009

Report Detail:

Three men died on Tuesday after inhaling toxic gases while working at a refinery near the Sardinian city of Cagliari. The men, who were carrying out maintenance work, are thought to have been poisoned by nitrogen after becoming trapped in a desulfurization unit. The Saras refinery where the incident occurred is one of the biggest in Europe.

Unofficial reports from the site say the three men were locals employed by an outside firm tasked with maintenance and repairs at the refinery. Although only exposed to the gas for a short period, the men were apparently dead by the time paramedics reached the scene. House Speaker Gianfranco Fini called for a minute of silence after announcing the deaths at a parliamentary session on the workplace. ''This is a tragic demonstration that the issue of security at work remains unresolved,'' he said, adding that certain categories of workers were at greater risk than others. Paolo Fadda, a deputy with the largest opposition group, the Democratic Party, called on the government to refer details of the incident to parliament. Italy has the worst record for workplace deaths in Europe, with 1,260 deaths recorded in 2007, compared to 678 in Germany in 2007, 662 in Spain and 593 in France.

In the first nine months of 2008, the only figures released so far, 779 people died in workplace accidents, about one every seven hours. Experts believe the actual figures could be even higher, as many accidents involve migrant workers who are not included in the calculations as they work off company books. Successive Italian governments have tightened workplace safety regulations but trade unions complain they are not being applied.

According to ANMIL, an association representing injured workers, part of the problem is there are not nearly enough work-safety inspectors to check the reforms are implemented. The association said that if every Italian business were to be checked by the number of staff currently available, each would receive a visit once every 23 years.

A 2007 European Union directive requires all member states to reduce workplace accidents by 25% between 2008 and 2012.

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