ANKARA - A multidisciplinary study “Contractual Arrangements in Turkey’s Coal Mines,” was launched by the ILO and TEPAV on 18 December 2015 in Ankara, suggesting key policy recommendations to develop a coordinated response to the need for an efficient continued development and use of Turkey’s natural resources all while ensuring safety and health of workers engaged in the mining sector.

Emphasizing the strategic importance of mining in Turkey’s economy, the report calls for a strengthened sectoral development strategy for the coal industry based on an analysis of Turkey’s energy needs, and the potential of the coal industry to meet these needs, with a long term vision that also takes due account the OSH implications of such a vision.

During the launch of the report, Director of the ILO Office for Turkey, Numan Özcan said: “ This report is a timely contribution to the ongoing efforts to improve the working conditions in Turkey’s coal mines. This study highlights both the national strategic importance for a further development of the mining industry in the context of Turkey’s economic development and implementation of an effective system for protecting the safety and health or workers engaged in this industry.”
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The report urges Turkey to adopt a framework that not only creates improved OHS conditions but also takes into account the need to shift from coal towards low-carbon renewable energy alternatives that are in harmony with newly agreed international standards such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations as well as G20 meetings.

“The main reason why Turkey is a front runner in terms of fatalities in the coal mining sector is the absence of ownership of mining sector in general and coal mining in particular. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Sources does not give due consideration to how natural resources are exploited but focusses on the production of energy. The problems don’t arise from the regulatory regime but from this approach and the practices that have evolved based on this approach.” said Güven Sak, Managing Director of TEPAV. 

The report highlights the need for a structural change in the related governing institutions to ensure an improved governance structure and a smooth functioning of the coal industry with an improved OSH record as well as ensuring an appropriate assessment and monitoring of compliance with OSH standards at the licensing stage.

“This study and its unique multidisciplinary approach, involving not only the tripartite constituents but also international technical specialists from both Turkey and ILO Headquarters in Geneva, is a clear demonstration of the added value that can be provided by engaging in the process based on ILO’s international labour standards” said Catherine Brakenhielm, Chief Technical Advisor for OSH, ILO Office for Turkey. She added that “It is utmost important to seize this opportunity and reinforce existing or create new structures to enable a constructive social dialogue with all relevant parties on the development of a national policy on mining in line, inter alia, with the newly ratified Safety and Health in Mining Convention, 1995 (No. 176) and which meets both national and international expectations”.

The widespread misuse of rödövans contracts has had a negative effect on the working and OSH conditions in mines, according to the report. Rödövans contracts and subcontracting arrangements should not be misused and that the fragmentation of responsibilities in regular subcontracting arrangements should be addressed, according to the report.

The report also points to the need to redesign the sectoral governance structures to increase inclusiveness in order to make sure that not only the social partners but also non-governmental sectoral bodies such as TMMOB, TOBB, and other civil society organizations are a part of the process.

It is of utmost importance that workers are able effectively to exercise their rights. Ambiguous recruitment systems, which severely restrict their possibility to do so, should be eradicated. The report also emphasizes that ensuring workers to have a voice and tapping their knowledge, as well as proper and continuous assessment of risks at workplaces, should be regular features of a well-functioning OSH system based on prevention.

The report also urges action to improve the national capacity to provide standardized first aid, search and rescue trainings; to develop a centralized database on national mining activities and to explore the possibility to use private entities such as insurance companies to support national systems for the monitoring of OSH conditions.

Based on Turkey’s international commitments including ILO Convention No. 155, and based on a tripartite engagement in this process, the ILO extended a technical assistance project on “Improving Occupational Health and Safety through Compliance with International Labour Standards” to Turkey in the course of 2015. This report was commissioned by the ILO part of its activities under this Project. The ILO remains committed to pursue its efforts to facilitate an overall improvement of occupational safety and health (OSH) in Turkey.

Executive Summary and Policy Recommendations are available in Turkish and English on the websites of ILO Ankara and of TEPAV while the full text will be available on the websites as of January 2016.