MISGEP Met with Employers and NGO Executives for the Mining Sector in the Mining City of Zonguldak

Within the scope of MISGEP, which is carried out by the General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety (İSGGM) and financed by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey, in order to improve the occupational health and safety conditions in mining workplaces and to raise awareness in this field, “MISGEP Mining Industry Consultation Meeting” covering 25 provinces in 7 regions of Turkey. Meetings” continues in Zonguldak. Governor of Zonguldak Mustafa TUTULMAZ, Deputy Governer Yıldırım UÇAR,  Occupational Health and Safety General Manager Cafer UZUNKAYA, General Manager of Turkish Hard Coal Corporation Kazım EROĞLU, General Manager of Occupational Health and Safety Cafer UZUNKAYA, Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Senior Colonel Gönen SÜSLÜ, President of Zonguldak Chamber of Commerce and Industry Metin DEMİR, Zonguldak Tradesmen Union of Craftsmen Chambers Education Manager Mr. İsmail DÜZTAŞ, representatives of public institutions, Chamber of Mining Engineers Zonguldak Branch President Mr. Çağlar ÖZTÜRK, mining enterprises serving in the Zonguldak region and senior executives of NGOs attended.

Zonguldak Governor Mustafa TUTULMAZ, who attended the opening session for his speeches, said, “I would like to express that I am happy to host the Mining Industry Consultation Meeting of MİSGEP in the mining city of Zonguldak. It is worth taking every precaution and expense to keep a person alive. When we think like this, I think that there will be an environment where less lives are hurt and accidents are less. It helps MISGEP to sensitize our society to occupational health and safety in an efficient way.”

Kazım EROĞLU, General Manager of Turkish Hard Coal Corporation, in his opening speech, said, “I would like to thank our General Manager and his team for MISGEP who works to internalize the occupational health and safety culture and make it a part of our personality.”

In his opening speeches, General Manager of Occupational Health and Safety Cafer UZUNKAYA said, “We have very important data to prevent work accidents and occupational diseases. It is possible to prevent occupational diseases by taking many precautions such as timely health surveillance and training, protection from physical and chemical risks in working life, and the use of personal protective equipment. Again, it is possible to prevent 98% of occupational accidents by taking precautions. Considering the fatal accident rates per hundred thousand in Turkey in 2013-2019, 41.3% less accidents occurred. In Zonguldak, this rate is 60.5%. But these developments are not enough. The death of a person is the death of humanity. Therefore, it is very important to create a culture on occupational health and safety.”

In the consultation session of the meeting, MISGEP Team Leader Gökhan Güler and Instructor Dr. Hacer KAYHAN, studied examples from the World such as occupational health and safety practices in the mining sector, legal obligations regarding mining and administrative fines, compensation after work accidents, the effect of unionization on OHS, pneumoconiosis; the most common occupational disease in the industry. The cost and benefits of preventing work accidents. During the meeting, the opinions of the participants were taken after each topic.