Please die at least three at a time

Three workers died at the Saras refinery in Sarroch, province of Cagliari, owned by the Moratti family. It's just the latest incident of a daily newsletter that reaches the front pages of newspapers only when accidents occur in any large structure or involve more than one person. Italy is the country with the highest number of deaths at work in Europe and the reason is not only the lack of respect of safety standards. Precarious work gives a big contribution to cause so many deaths.

Because workers who have no certainty and can be fired at any time, never refuse a shift, even if they are tired. Because workers who are used and thrown away are not experienced enough and prepared to deal with dangerous situations. Because workers who are employed by external contractors, such as happened in Cagliari, hardly insist on the observance of safety standards because they fear being fired.

Every year in Italy there are about 1,000 deaths and 30,000 work injuries with permanent damages. We talk about an army of 10,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries in the last ten years. As a war. One part is due to traffic accidents coming and going from work, but these deaths are attributable to fatigue for working exhausting shifts.

But against the scourge of precarity the Italian governments, right and left, have done nothing and have no intention of doing anything. The information for its part has not the slightest intention to point the finger at one of the main culprits, the precarious work, because the publishers are the first to exploit it successfully.

Moreover, the Act on Safety at Work adopted by the government Prodi in extremis probably will be changed to become less restrictive for companies by the labor minister Sacconi. So, given that hope into the politics or the media is pure science fiction, employees who want that Italy knows how they died, are requested to die in groups. If they die on their own they get a short article in the local editions, and no more.

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Francesco Defferrari

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