Turkish shipyard fatalities put industry under fire

Booming worldwide demand for cargo ships of every kind has greatly benefited Turkey as an "emerging shipbuilding country" in recent years, infusing the country with significant amounts of foreign cash and providing an abundance of employment opportunities to local markets. However, this has come at a cost as labor unions become increasingly uneasy over occupational hazards and safety issues that have led to accidents and deaths, problems that threaten the lucrative shipbuilding industry, the world's fourth largest after Japan, South Korea and China.
The tragic deaths of two workers at a Tuzla shipyard last week prompted unions and civil society organizations to call on the government to take swift action in regulating the industry. Since 1983, when shipyards began operating in Tuzla, 74 workers have died from work-related accidents. The number of total accidents also shot up to 227 incidents last year from 73 in 2002.
Analysts argue that structural problems, a shortage of skilled workers, the lack of education and a lack of compliance with regulations are at the root of the problems the industry is facing today. Coupled with over-ambitious shipbuilders trying to keep up with orders from customers, crammed shipyards working around the clock invite the risk of accidents and safety mishaps.
A subcontracting system that was set up to help the industry develop further and become competitive has now turned into a major headache for the government as it tries to implement stringent occupational safety regulations within the industry. Over 90 percent of orders are being completed today through the subcontracting system, which works very much in favor of ship owners and continues to be the major source of negligence and violations. Unions argue that ship owners and builders try to evade accountability by delegating responsibility to small and medium-sized contractors.
The Geneva-based International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) says the shipbuilding industry will continue to see increased demand in the foreseeable future. Speaking to Today's Zaman, IMF Steel Director Rob Johnson predicts a strong order book for new ships until at least 2012 with solid demand from China, India, Russia and Brazil. He said, "From a health and safety point of view, conditions in the industry seem to be declining," adding that "the increased use of migrant labor and contract workers by employers without regulation has been a major contributor to this situation." Johnson laments the fact that the International Labour Organization (ILO) has not followed other industries in developing a code of practice for shipbuilding. However, he adds that "many of the ILO conventions on health and safety should apply" to the industry as well. He argues that "the ILO standards should be seen as a minimum and the government, the industry and the unions can all make a contribution to implement and improve on these."
Johnson's suggestion seems to have been taken under consideration in a debate in Turkey. Public outrage at a death toll that has climbed to 13 over the last five months alone at the Tuzla shipyards seems to have brought two odd bedfellows together for a common cause. Two civic organizations, one representing the workers and the other representing the builders, called the other day for an autonomous regulatory committee that will work independently to ensure safety and security in work areas. Speaking to Today's Zaman, Harbor, Shipyard and Ship Construction and Repair Workers' Union (Limter-İş) President Cem Dinç said the union is willing to accept such a committee. Turkish Shipbuilders Association (GİSBİR) President Murat Bayrak echoed the same sentiments and endorsed the idea of establishing an independent safety committee.
Though many questions remain as to the form and capacity of such a committee, the willingness on either side of the parties to work together is considered a positive development, industry observers argue. All political parties seem to have a unified position on the issue as well. Parliament's Human Rights Investigation Commission has established a subcommittee to examine the topic and investigate accidents involving fatalities. The Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul chapter filed a petition yesterday with the prosecutor's office, alleging grave negligence in Tuzla by contractors, ship owners, the government and business groups representing the interests of builders. A petition submitted by Gülseren Yoleri, the chapter's president, is asking for the prosecutor to investigate the negligence and determine who is responsible for the deaths at Tuzla.
Under mounting pressure from the public, the Turkish government has started to project its regulatory power on the industry to make sure ship owners and builders comply with the law. The government has introduced new safety regulations in line with European Union standards and started to implement safety inspections. The latest onsite inspections found 588 infractions and safety violations and resulted in six companies being shut down and 41 being fined a total of $158,000. The ministry also added a new requirement through recently passed legislation requiring that only skilled workers be employed in high-risk, heavy-duty jobs. To meet the growing need for skilled labor, the government is considering establishing two maritime high schools in Tuzla and Yalova.
Compared with a multibillion-dollar industry, fines imposed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security do not discourage violators, said the president of Limter-İş, a trade union with 1,360 members. He also criticized pre-announced inspections as not effective and called for spot checks and unannounced visits of work sites. Dinç also blamed contractors for sloppy work and hiring practices. He said business owners continue to blatantly disregard regulations and find new ways to bypass and circumvent laws just to finish projects on time. The result, he said, is the loss of human life, leaving broken families in need of financial help. His union has shied away from collective bargaining as it does not have enough members in the sector. He also noted that a systematic campaign against union workers was at work at all times and that it sometimes results in the termination of workers.
Bayrak knew he would incur the wrath of ship owners and builders when he said, "You can't set up a business on death." Speaking to Today's Zaman at his office on the top floor of the GİSBİR hospital, which is long overdue for opening, Bayrak said, "Unfortunately our ship owners are cutting corners in labor safety." He added, "The safety committees should be independent and autonomous so as to ensure compliance." Bayrak admitted that "safety remained only in the dictionary" of this sector. He also lamented the fact that a lack of planning in the initial stages had exacerbated the crowded situation at the Tuzla shipyards and blamed the government. "We were not consulted when the government decided to move shipbuilders from Haliç to Tuzla a decade ago. Now we have too many builders in a tight stretch of land, and this setup is obviously very prone to accidents," he noted. Bayrak said an unskilled and uneducated workforce plays a role in the accident-prone sector, but Dinç disagrees, saying, "It does not make any sense to me to claim that these workers do not have the intellectual capacity to comply with safety regulations while they were entrusted with performing difficult technical assignments by contractors."
Tahsin Kaplan, 26, is out of a job after working for four years in the shipyards. "I started as a construction worker erecting scaffolding around the ships and then moved to the welding department." He said: "Our supervisors constantly pressure us to finish the job because they are trying to meet deadlines. Safety concerns are often disregarded, and we are forced to work long hours." Kaplan also notes that the equipment was substandard. "Some of our hardhats are cracked, and safety gear, like gloves and steel toe shoes, are not readily available."
In addition to safety, the workers' welfare is also a major concern. Mustafa Karaoğlan, 39, has worked at the Tuzla shipyards since 2001. His complaint centers on salary and social security. "They do not regularly pay our social security taxes, and when they do, they base it on the minimum wage rather than on actual earnings," he notes. "Employers do not pay social insurance premiums in full. This deprives us and our families of social protection."
Numbers Look Grim for Workers, Rosy for Industry
There are two main reasons driving the growth in the shipbuilding industry today. Increasing trade volume in the world relies heavily on cargo transported by ship, standing at almost 95 percent of the total. New regulations adopted by the International Maritime Association (IMO) have also pushed the industry to build more vessels with greater tonnage. Two years ago the IMO did away with ships more than 15 years old in maritime transportation and called for double-walled containers for all ships by 2015. Turkey, with a low cost of labor and a relatively high-tech and large-tonnage building capacity, has become a major player in the world today. The industry provides a sizable contribution to the Turkish economy, totaling over $2.5 billion in foreign currency, offers employment opportunities to 30,000 people directly and over 70,000 people through parts and related sectors. Industry estimates project a 300,000-strong labor force in total by 2013.
According to a report submitted to Parliament, Turkey, along with Japan, ranks third in terms of fatalities with three deaths per 10,000 accidents occurring each year. The UK and Sweden come first with one per 10,000 and the US follows with two. Singapore, Taiwan and China score worse with 10 deaths per 10,000 accidents. The worst performer is Malaysia with 12 deaths per 10,000.
The number of shipyards is increasing rapidly in Turkey. Only 37 in 2002, the number climbed to 84 as of April 2008. With the completion of 65 projects currently under way, operating shipyards will total 140 by 2013. The Tuzla shipyards are home to 44 shipbuilders and currently account for 80 percent of export and 70 percent of the sector's employment. With 265 new ship orders, Turkey is fourth in the global shipbuilding market. China leads the pack with 3,186 ships, while South Korea, with 2,277, and Japan, with 1,411, trail behind.
Shipyards in Turkey have one of greatest floating docks in the world; 80 meters wide, 355 meters long, they have a 300,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) floating capacity. A total of 10 million DWT can be utilized for repair and maintenance and 1 million DWT for new ship building.

Source: Today’s Zaman