Deaths of miners continue

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia says that the signs of the violation of safety rules are clear in connection with the accident in the Tkibuli mine, claiming the life of one miner last week.

Investigative actions are underway in the mine.

The ministry reports they have sent their own people to the Tkibuli mine and are studying the situation at the scene.

The accident in the Mindeli mine in Tkibuli claimed a life of miner Davit Porchkhidze.

According to the Saknakhshiri GIG Group, the accident occurred during underground works due to the collapse of part of the mine.

The number of casualties in the workplace increases every year.

58 were killed and 85 were injured in 2016.

“The absence of effective mechanism of labour inspection contributes to the deterioration of the situation in the country,” Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili said.

Nanuashvili has called on the Government and Parliament to take steps to ensure labour safety and create an appropriate normative base, as well as an independent state body, which will be authorized to issue mandatory instructions and use appropriate sanctions and will oversee the implementation of the required regulations of labour safety.

“The current service, which lacks strict standards of labour safety and does not have any mechanism for taking coercive measures, is a pseudo system and cannot provide actual safeguards,” Nanuashvili added.

Georgia suffers from shockingly high numbers of people who die at their workplace.

If the government fails to take measures, the number of deaths will not decrease.

Unfortunately, people still do not openly protest suchunforgivable inaction and silence from the authorities over labour issues.