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Agricultural Worker Killed in First Workplace Death of 2023

Worker from Thailand was injured last Sunday after falling from a tractor and pronounced dead at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva | 2022 saw 72 workers killed in accidents in Israel

מתנדבי איחוד הצלה בזירת התאונה (צילום: איחוד הצלה)
Paramedics at the site of the accident (Photo: United Hatzalah)
By Nizzan Zvi Cohen

A Thai agricultural worker in his 40s was killed last Sunday in Israel’s first fatal workplace accident of 2023. The worker, whose name has not been published, suffered an injury after falling from a tractor on Route 5711 outside of Moshav Haniel in Israel’s Emek Hefer region. He was pronounced dead Sunday night at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

The worker appears to have been sitting inside a large plastic container that is used to collect fruit, which was being transported by the tractor. After the tractor made a turn, the container fell with the worker sitting inside, seriously injuring the worker.

“When we arrived at the scene, we saw the worker lying on the road unconscious and suffering from a severe head injury,” said Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedic Idan Shina. “We gave him medical treatment that included stopping the bleeding and administering medication and evacuated him in an MDA intensive care vehicle to the hospital where his condition became serious and unstable.” Doctors at Beilinson Hospital tried their best to keep him alive, but unfortunately by the end of the day he was pronounced dead.

Attorney Hadas Tagari, director of the Group for Combating Construction and Industrial Accidents, stated that “accidents caused by a tractor overturning or [someone] being run over by a tractor are a significant part of work accidents in the agricultural sector. These accidents can usually be prevented by making sure to use appropriate tools and safety measures.” According to Tagari, in addition to yesterday’s fatal accident, four workers were killed in 2022 due to tractors overturning during agricultural work. Overall, 72 workers were killed in workplace accidents in Israel last year.

Tagari further explained that even though numerous accidents have occurred while performing agricultural work and while using vehicles that are designated for agricultural work, the Occupational Safety Administration within the Directorate General of Labor (a branch of the Ministry of Economy) does not define these accidents as workplace accidents. Tagari believes that this legal distinction leads to a lack of public awareness, safety information and enforcement of measures designed to prevent such accidents.

This article was translated from Hebrew by Nancye Kochen.

 

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