IAccording to union information, 74 construction workers in Germany were fatally injured during the work last year. A total of 99,380 construction accidents were reported, said IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) on Saturday. “These are frightening numbers,” said union boss Robert Feiger.
In 2021, the union had counted 103,518 accidents, 85 of which were fatal. “Even if the numbers have fallen compared to the previous year, the number of accidents on the construction site is high,” explained Feiger. “Construction sites are still a problem child when it comes to occupational safety.”
Feiger assumes that there is a high number of unreported accidents at work: “On the one hand, many – especially minor accidents – are not reported at all,” explained the union boss. “On the other hand, where foreign workers work on construction sites, accidents are often trivialized or covered up.”
Carsten Burckhardt, the IG-BAU board member responsible for occupational safety, explained that most accidents happened in smaller companies. “We urgently need to create a different awareness here.”
However, Burckhardt warned that companies should not just rely on their own responsibility. “More control pressure is needed for companies that don’t really take occupational safety seriously.”