Israel’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration faced a budget reduction of approximately 40% between 2023 and 2024, Deputy Head of the Safety Administration at the Ministry of Labor Ran Cohen told the Labor and Welfare Committee during a discussion on worker safety held late last month. During 2024, 69 workers in Israel were killed, and an additional 589 were injured on the job—rates that many say could be reduced if the government invested in workplace safety.
“The Safety Administration is currently short 150 inspectors in the field. We currently have 78 to 79 inspectors,” Cohen said, noting that the cuts have severely limited the ministry’s ability to authorize overtime and provide field vehicles for inspectors.
In 2023, according to Cohen, 38 inspector positions were opened, though not all were filled, while in 2024, only five were posted. “At the moment we have about 30 unfilled positions, most of which cannot be posted due to budgetary issues—they’re frozen,” he said.
Cohen warned that the trend will continue in 2025, with further budget cuts planned, despite a recovering economy and a growing need for inspectors. Other ministries, he said, have received additional staff with the plans to increase the number of foreign workers in Israel, but the Safety Administration did not receive additional positions. He said that so far in 2025, the number of safety orders has increased.
“It’s like trying to empty the ocean with a spoon. To enforce regulations effectively, more resources are needed,” he said.
Evyatar Hanan of the Histadrut echoed those concerns. “They keep talking about the number of workers but not about their names, and so it just goes in one ear and out the other, and we move on,” he said. “The report on reducing work accidents says there are 80,000 workplaces that need to be supervised—but there’s no reference at all to staffing. We’ve heard here that there are 78 inspectors, which means one inspector for every 1,000 or more workplaces. It’s obvious to everyone that this isn’t feasible.”
Diana Baron from Kav LaOved, an organization that provides legal advice and representation for workers, emphasized the urgency. “Despite reduced economic activity, the number of fatalities in 2025 is approaching prewar levels,” Baron said.
Last year, Kav LaOved documented 69 work-related fatalities, 37 of which were in the construction sector, despite a decrease in activity in the sector due to the war. “There was a rate of 1.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers, which is twice the average in the European Union,” Baron said.
She stressed that the solutions for workplace fatalities are known and available. “The solutions are in the hands of the state. Expert committees have already pointed them out,” she said. She advised the establishment of a national safety authority, the creation of a government data repository, as well as increased supervision, enforcement, and indictments.
“We found that the legal proceedings that do occur are very lengthy, and even in the end, they usually don’t result in prison sentences, even when negligence is proven,” Baron explained.
Cohen confirmed that progress is being made toward the establishment of a national safety authority. “There’s no opposition from the Finance Ministry or any other party to the establishment of the authority, but it requires tightening up some of the matters that the interministerial committee recommended,” he said. “It doesn't depend solely on us, but I assume that in 2026 there will be an announcement.”
Acting committee chair MK Aida Touma-Suleiman, of the Hadash-Ta’al Party, sharply criticized the budget cuts to the Safety Administration and expressed frustration at the slow pace of progress. “The committee has been following the field of workplace safety for years. We hear about many things happening, but often it seems that on the ground, things are not progressing and not leading to the desired outcomes. Meanwhile, people go out to earn their living and lose their lives, or return with severe injuries and disabilities,” she said. “One of the reasons I am committed to this issue is that I am the daughter of a construction worker who had to live for 25 years in poor health because of a work accident. I know how it affects a family.”
Roi Weinstein, of the Crane Operators Union, emphasized the importance of considering workplace injuries as well as workplace fatalities. “We need to understand that injuries cost the National Insurance Institute over 4 billion shekels [about 1 billion] a year,” he said. A worker who is unsure of their income source will almost always risk themselves. They won’t dare stop working and risk losing their livelihood, and sometimes even suffer personal harm, due to safety issues. Until we link job security to safety, the situation won’t change.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Marina Levy.
