In 2023, the number of cases reported in the media for workplace accidents remains high again. While the Labor Inspectorate notes a decrease in these accidents for 2022, experts raise the alarm that, despite the existence of the legal framework, it is not respected by employers, a fact that could lead to alarming statistics for 2023. Police and prosecution figures they talk about hundreds of arrestees, but not even half of the accident cases find justice.
Author Ernilda Luzi
Lorenci, a construction site worker, remembers the moment he fell from the scaffolding while he was on duty.
"I was on a scaffold with a height of almost three meters from the surface of the earth, when the accident happened and I fell. On the same scaffold I had climbed the work colleague, the moment he moved to get something, my foot slipped and I rolled over.
He explains that he was not equipped with protective clothing and safety harnesses when he was injured in the workplace.
"We don't have specially specialized clothes, work clothes, yes, we wear old clothes to avoid getting dirty and dusty."
He remembers that after the accident, it was his colleagues who immediately took him to the hospital for treatment. On the other hand, he faced the employer, who wanted to hide the accident from the state authorities and not to make the event public.
"One of my colleagues took me to the hospital. When the owner found out that they accompanied me, he was told: "Why did you tell them that you fell off the pier? Why didn't you tell him that Lorenci fell off the motorcycle?" He did this normally so that he would not have problems with reports and so on."
He further explains that he did not denounce the incident and did not report it to the relevant authorities, since, apart from the part that he thought that the employer would compensate him, without the need to open a legal case, he thought about the work that fed the family, although he was the one who was was injured and was forced to stay in bed for a month.
However, the employer did not fulfill his promises, as Lorenci had only been covered for two weeks of reporting, continuing with lies and keeping him with the hope that one day he would reward him for his loyalty.
Lorenci says that he left his job and is still in conflict with his employer. He thinks that he should send the case to the court, to get what belongs to him and which is being denied to him unjustly.
The phenomenon of informality remains a widespread problem. In the company, where he was employed, Lorenci received the money from the employer, half in hand and half in the bank. Now, injured and lacking financial means to cover family expenses, he regrets that he "protected" his employer.
State Inspectorate: Increase in cases with fatal consequences and informality in the construction sector
From the Labor Inspection Indicators Report for 2022, 779 complaints were filed. It is noted that 24.3% of the reasons for the denunciation are related to the violation of labor relations, which includes the payment of salary not through the banking system. 18.7% of the reasons for denunciation are related to the non-payment of back wages, while 6.9% of the reasons for denunciation are related to the non-payment of social and health insurance contributions.
The highest number of inspected complaints results from employees who work in entities that develop their economic activity in the Tirana region, this is also due to the fact of the high concentration of businesses in this region.
In the type of activity - construction - 34 inspections were carried out due to complaints, 66 workers without contracts and 32 informal workers were found and 3 subjects were fined.
In 2022, 29 workers had accidents in the construction sector, where 10 of them were cases with fatal consequences - loss of life.
The report of the State Inspectorate of Labor and Social Services points out the problem in the implementation of legal requirements in terms of safety and health at work, such as the non-use of individual protective equipment, which indicates the incorrect implementation of the duties of the person responsible for the issues of safety and health at work in the subject, even though it exists; lack of information to employees; real dysfunction of KSSHP in most cases; lack of proper signage at workplaces for specific processes and not correctly implementing DVR.
During the inspection process in numerous businesses nationwide, 1680 informal employees and 375 employees without individual contracts were identified in 441 private entities.
The legal expert, Margarita Kola, points out that "most employers, since they have obligations from the law, prefer not to register their employees, to be discharged from the responsibility and obligations they have towards the employees."
She adds that employees have a duty not to agree to work in such conditions, for the reason that their protection by the law is more vulnerable, more difficult, if they are not registered employees and this complicates the process of proving in court.
As for the Albanian legislation, the legal expert, Margarita Kola, says that "the legislation is in accordance with the standards of EU laws; it was drafted in cooperation with international experience, but the problem lies in its implementation. How much do we implement these laws and how many monitoring mechanisms do we have to check the applicability of these laws. Private employers do not implement or recognize legal obligations and the law, we have no mechanisms to monitor them."
Negligence and lack of information about the dangers, cause of accidents
The number of accidents increasing day by day, the lack of informing employees about the dangers of the workplace, the lack of signage and the non-implementation and non-respect of technical conditions are the main causes that lead to accidents with fatal consequences, which are confirmed by experts .
Edison Hoxha, Executive Director of Center for Rights at Work, notes that "the construction sector is the most problematic in recent years in terms of accidents at work, especially those with fatal consequences, because construction work is a job that is carried out at height, where mistakes and negligence can lead to fatal consequences for the employee".
He finds that non-compliance with the conditions of technical insurance in the workplace is the cause of accidents, some of them with fatal consequences.
"The use of personal protective equipment is very deficient, in many cases also due to the negligence of the employees, but even in these cases we should not put the responsibility on the employees, again the responsibility lies with the employers and all those structures that must control it, they must supervise it and they must discipline the organization of work."
Cases of fatal workplace accidents being reported in the media are numerous. Only in 2023 there are dozens of reports.
One of the most recent accidents with fatal consequences was the one on Dukagjini road, i reported by the media in November 2023, where a worker lost his life due to landslides.
Before this case, 35-year-old Andi Lala, an employee in a private company, fell from the crane while he was cutting trees, immediately dying.
"During the work of cutting tree branches in Neighborhood no. 13, the employee of the company, who was carrying out works for the construction of the pedestrian walkway on the beach of Durrës, fell and fell from the basket of the working crane, the citizen of AL, 35 years old, who as a result lost his life", - informs the police.
Before him, in the month of August, the media has reported two loss of life, a minor in Dimal due to falling into contact with electricity and a foreign worker, employee of the former Metallurgical Plant, Elbasan, injured in the body by a device during the work process in the aluminum recycling factory; two flagrant cases of violation of safety rules at the workplace.
On April 15, 2023, according to the police report, a construction worker, citizen AL, 45 years old, resident of Kallmet, died after falling from the scaffolding of a building under construction in Shengjin, in the area of Kunes.
Other, fatal cases have been reported to the police, one of them is the case of a minor, JB, 17 years old, a resident of Radhimë, who, while working on the construction of the parking lot of a building, was hit by a crane and died in place.
At the same time, there were accidents in March 2023, where the media has reported the loss of life of an employee in a supermarket specializing in building materials and household appliances, again due to the violation of occupational safety rules.
The figures of the Labor Inspectorate for the year 2022 on the number of complaints in labor relations, but also of accidents at construction sites were very gloomy, but, seeing the many cases reported in the media, it is not expected that there will be a change for the year 2023 positive.
Edison Hoxha points out the problem of lack of information and training of employees.
"Employees are not properly trained and informed about the dangers of the workplace, and for many reasons negligence is also due to the lack of information from employees. There is a lack of signage and we have noticed that, in the largest districts, such as Tirana, Durrës, in urban areas, where there are more constructions, there is a pronounced lack of signage and not of a standard they should be".
He further raises the concern that "about 50% of the fines, which have been undertaken by the institutions, which deal with the implementation of Labor Law, have not been executed and this loses the value of the importance of the amount of the fine. The fine, if it is not executed, does not have any value. I think we should have stricter measures".
From the request for information addressed to the State Police, this institution reports that, "during the last 4 years, 373 cases of the criminal offense "Violation of the rules of protection at work", provided for by Article 289 of the Criminal Code, have been identified, of which 370 cases have been discovered.
These cases resulted in 435 perpetrators, of which 126 were arrested red-handed or detained, 290 were prosecuted at large and 19 were declared wanted. According to the State Police, 373 citizens were injured by this criminal offense, 78 of whom died as a result.
ACQJ addressed to the General Prosecutor's Office, where the data shows that over the last three years, for violation of Article 289 "Breach of the rules of protection at work", the year 2021 marks the highest number of proceedings registered in the court, where processed 117 individuals.
From the statistical data of the Ministry of Justice, published in statistical yearbooks, the year 2021 captures the highest figure, where 16 people were found guilty for violating Article 289.
However, media reports point out that the largest number of files, stemming from these criminal acts, are dismissed in the prosecutor's office, more from accidents that are not found guilty and the victims do not receive justice.
Mr. Hoxha emphasizes that "the data that come about fatal consequences are those that have been reported by official institutions, since it is very difficult to cover an accident in the construction sector, but, as far as minor consequences are concerned, they are much more more than reported, because we have found many of these in different workplaces".
The legal expert, Margarita Kola, once again emphasizes the provision of technical conditions by the employer to protect the health of employees, so that during the exercise of their duties, they are provided with the appropriate tools to guarantee their safety.
"The monitoring and controlling mechanisms of the law must function to ensure that these rules are implemented".
All the reporting on the figures and the failures of the state institutions to guarantee the follow-up of the necessary workers' health insurance rules recalls the story of Lorenzo, who reported a slight injury to the state institutions, to save the employer's skin, from which there were broken promises. In the meantime, he injured his spine, as a result of which he was unable to make a living for a long time. He has already lost his job and is finding it extremely difficult to find a new one.
This article is part of the Investigative Journalism Laboratory project, which is financially supported by the Public Relations Office of the US Embassy in Tirana. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of State.
