Dozens of people died at work last year, some deaths were concealed by employers

“At one of the regional inspectorates, we had fourteen fatal occupational accidents reported last year, but we got to another three that were not reported,” said Martin Melecký, inspector general of the State Labor Inspection Office. The reason is, for example, that the person worked in the company illegally, or that it is not immediately clear who actually employed him. This applies primarily to agency employees.

Employees of the inspectorate learned about unreported fatal work accidents through the media or the police.

“The police turned to us and told us that there was a work accident on the construction site and a person died there,” Melecký described one of the cases. But no one reported the accident to the inspection. The construction managers themselves then asked the inspectors if anyone had already reported the deceased employee. It was not clear which of the companies in the chain that hired employees actually employed him.

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A total of 35,706 occupational accidents were reported last year, of which 753 were serious. In other words, roughly the same as in 2022. Injured workers and their survivors are entitled to compensation for injury and possibly a pension for reduced work ability or the death of a breadwinner.

Last year, the inspection revealed 2,801 illegally or illegally employed people. This is 240 more than the year before. The inspectors imposed fines totaling more than 134 million crowns. Fines for almost 117 million were then imposed for disguised employment.

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