Two years after Georgia’s Labor Inspectorate expanded its mandate to include all labor rights, workplace injuries and deaths have not decreased significantly in most cities and regions, despite some positive trends.
According to statistics provided by the Labor Inspectorate, Tbilisi has seen the largest share of serious workplace accidents in recent years, mostly concentrated in the construction sector. Imereti, home to most of Georgia’s heavy industry, has the second most. The most recent data shows that in the first quarter of 2023, there were 54 injuries and seven deaths recorded at workplaces in Georgia. Of those injured, 14 were serious and 40 were of moderate severity.
Injury and death statistics are traditionally high in the construction sector. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, there were four severe injuries, six moderate injuries and four deaths recorded in the construction sector.
Construction has led all sectors in deaths and injuries in past years as well. Inspectorate data shows that in 2022, a total of 35 work-related deaths were recorded in Georgia, with 16 of them in the construction sector. And in 2021, construction accounted for 18 of 37 total work-related deaths. Since 2019, construction has three times more deaths than any other industry.
Statistics show that the situation for workers also remains dangerous in the manufacturing sector and in the field of wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair. It is clear that in these regions and industries, the preventive effect of the Labor Inspectorate’s activities is failing to live up to expectations.
The Fair Labor Platform regularly publishes labor inspection reports on its Labor Rights Monitor database. We also publish workplace death and injury statistics from the Labor Inspectorate here.
