NEW Party Ankara Deputy Gamze Taşcıer submitted a proposal to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly to investigate all aspects of the explosion in the HABAŞ Iron and Steel Factory in Aliağa, Izmir, in which 17 workers lost their lives.
In his statement on the subject, Taşcıer said:
"17 workers lost their lives. 17 families were hit by fire. We have to clearly reveal why this disaster occurred, what precautions the employer did not take, and how the Ministry of Labor and Social Security fulfilled its inspection duty. Six days before the disaster, on November 3, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan was telling the Parliament that they had carried out 11 thousand 39 inspections and that they had eliminated 90 percent of the detected nonconformities. Six days later, at HABAŞ 17 workers lost their lives. Moreover, Mr. Minister announced that no serious problems had been detected in the facility before. We ask Mr. Minister; 17 workers died in the factory where you did not see any serious problems! So, what dangers did you eliminate?
HOW DID THE MINISTRY NOT SEE ALL THESE?
We reviewed HABAŞ's 2025 Sustainability Report. The dangers that the Ministry does not see are present in the figures announced by the company itself. The number of lost-time work accidents, which was 147 in 2024, increased to 229 in 2025. 55.8 percent increase in one year! Accidents caused by subcontracted workers increased from 38 to 83. The increase is 118.4 percent. The accident frequency of subcontracted workers working in the same factory and in the same production chain has reached approximately twice that of direct company employees. There is more. The company's occupational health and safety training hours decreased from 65 thousand 700 in 2024 to 8 thousand 697 in 2025. While occupational accidents increased by 55.8 percent in one year, occupational safety training hours decreased by 86.8 percent. How did the Ministry not see all this? In which audit were the dangers acknowledged by the company in its own report examined? What precautions have been taken? There is no point in boasting about the number of inspections unless the dangers that cost workers' lives are eliminated.
THEY WORKED 60 HOURS A WEEK
The working hours announced by HABAŞ also raise serious questions that need to be investigated. The company reported a total of 6 million 635 thousand 748 working hours for 2 thousand 99 direct employees in 2025. The calculation we made based on these data reveals approximately 3 thousand 161 hours of working time per worker per year and an average of 60.8 hours of working time per week. The legal weekly working time in Türkiye is 45 hours. So how many hours per week did HABAŞ workers actually work? How much overtime was made? Were they given enough rest between shifts? The personnel and working hour records on which this calculation is based should be disclosed. The effects of long working hours, fatigue and production pressure on the lives of workers in heavy industry cannot be ignored.
"IN 16 YEARS, 432 WORKERS DIED, 251 THOUSAND 767 WORK ACCIDENTS OCCURRED"
The disaster in HABAŞ is the last part of the occupational murders that have been going on for years in the basic metal industry. We examined SSI data. Between 2010 and 2025, 251 thousand 767 insured people who had work accidents were recorded in the basic metal industry, 432 workers lost their lives and 626 occupational diseases were recorded. These data show that an average of 43 workers had a work accident every day for 16 years, and approximately one worker died while working every 14 days. In the same period, 3 million 165 thousand 664 days of temporary disability were recorded due to work accidents. Workers and their families who are injured, lose their health, or cannot work for months pay the price.
180 workers lost their lives in the 2010-2017 period before the Presidential Government System was introduced. This number increased to 252 in the 2018–2025 period. Worker deaths increased by 40 percent in two equal periods!
Although the number of insured people who had a work accident decreased by 5.6 percent in 2025, the number of workers who died increased from 24 to 31. Worker deaths increased by 29.2 percent in one year. Industry is growing, production is increasing, factories are making investments worth billions of lira. So why can't workers work in safer conditions? Why can't the deaths of hundreds of workers be prevented?
"HOW MUCH DID THE COMPANY, WITH 145 BILLION TL IN SALES, SPEND ON WORKER SAFETY?"
According to HABAŞ's own report, the company's consolidated net sales in 2025 are approximately 145 billion lira. Crude steel production is 3.88 million tons. The announced investment commitment is approximately 36 billion lira. We want to know how much resources an industrial enterprise of this size allocates for the life safety of workers. The safety of lifting equipment, gas lines, maintenance-repair activities, protective systems, occupational safety training, working and rest periods, and the risks exposed to subcontracted workers should be investigated.
The Ministry must submit past inspection reports, warnings, sanctions and the employer's responses regarding HABAŞ to the Parliament. Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331 is clear. It is the employer's obligation to ensure the health and safety of workers. It is the responsibility of the state to supervise the fulfillment of this obligation. We have to call to account an approach that prides itself on inspection statistics instead of protecting the lives of workers.
We want a parliamentary investigation to reveal why 17 workers lost their lives at HABAŞ, the responsibilities of the employer and the public authority, and the structural reasons for the occupational murders that have been going on for years in the basic metal industry. The growth of the factory's production capacity, sales and profits while the workers producing the steel are dying cannot be presented as success. The worker's life is more valuable than the boss's production target and profit. We will continue to hold accountable this system that sacrifices the life safety of workers to the cost.
