In September, the media reported of 4 cases, when 4 workers were killed and 5 injured. This situation is alarming and needs to be radically changed through urgent and strict steps that must be taken by the Government.

The first case occurred in Batumi on September 8, when two construction workers were killed. In the second case, on September 16, an explosion at the Institute of Cybernetics claimed a life of one worker. In the third case, a worker fell to his death from a construction building in Tbilisi on September 28. The fourth incident occurred in Batumi on September 30, when 5 workers were injured as a result of collapse of a building under construction. The Public Defender offers sympathy to the families and relatives of the victims, and wishes timely recovery to the injured.

Unfortunately, there is no clear political will to timely create labour inspection mechanism. Instead of taking preventive measures, the state is in a passive role, and at the same time, it cannot adequately react to the cases occurred. The draft law, initiated by the Government of Georgia in the Parliament of Georgia on June 1, contains serious shortcomings. Hopefully, the comments, made by the Public Defender with regard to the draft law, will be taken into consideration and adoption of the law will not be delayed. It is noteworthy that according to the draft law, its main provisions will be activated only a year after its adoption, which is a long time and needs to be reviewed. The Public Defender urges the state structures to prioritize the safe working environment in the country, immediately take measures to create efficient labour inspection mechanism and put it into practice.

In order to protect the labour rights and advocate the establishment of safe environment, the Public Defender of Georgia launched a special campaign Make Labour Safe in September, within the framework of which, he will once again raise the challenges of labour policy, existing needs and necessary changes.