site.btaLabour Inspectorate Reports Serious Increase in Work Accidents in Bulgaria in 2023

There has been a serious increase in work accidents in Bulgaria over the past year, said on Friday the director of the General Labour Inspectorate (GLI) Executive Agency, Ekaterina Assenova, at a regional forum in Yambol's regional administration office on work traumatism.

From January to mid-May of 2023, 31 people in the country have died in work accidents. For the same period this year, there have been 19 traumatic workplace deaths.

"When we realize that workplace safety rules are not an administrative burden but save lives, only then will we reach the much desired zero trauma rate," Assenova pointed out.

In 2023, the GLI received and examined 8,300 alerts. Of these, only 5% were submitted by employees for dangerous working conditions. The remaining 95% had to do with unpaid or delayed wages and benefits, non-observance of working hours, or overtime work, she added.

According to Assenova, labour inspections in the country are primarily focused on the construction sector, as it has the highest rate of occupational injuries. Inspections in high-risk enterprises come second.

"To date, there are 350 labour inspectors in Bulgaria, and according to the National Statistical Institute, there are about 2.3 million jobs. There is no way we can curb work-related traumatism unless we all come together - the state, social partners, employers, and workers - to solve this problem," the GLI director added.