Occupational health and safety in solid waste management and recovery processes; analysis of occupational accidents in Turkey and comparison with European Union member countries

With the rapid growth of industrialization, urbanization, and population, global waste generation has significantly increased. This rise, coupled with the depletion of natural resources, has made international environmental policies essential to ensure ecosystem sustainability. Within this context, sustainable development has emerged, promoting strategies to achieve environmental, economic, and social goals. Waste management and recycling play a key role in reaching these objectives. While solid waste management and recycling processes contribute to both environmental protection and increased employment, ineffective implementation of these processes poses serious risks to the environment, society, and worker health. Therefore, the regular monitoring and analysis of occupational accidents in this sector, identifying potential risks, and developing preventive policies are not only indicators of the value placed on human life but also of environmental awareness. For this purpose, this study examines occupational accidents that occurred in Turkey's solid waste management and recycling processes between 2014 and 2023. Using occupational accident standardization methods such as accident frequency rate, accident incidence rate, and fatal accident incidence rate, data obtained from the Social Security Institution's (SGK) annual statistics were converted into the accident statistics format published by the European Union Statistical Office (Eurostat) to enable both national and international comparative evaluations. As a result, it was determined that occupational accidents in Turkey's solid waste management and recycling sector increased by 290% over the past ten years. Although the sector's share in total employment remained limited, between 0.5% and 0.7%, its overall accident incidence rate was found to be more than twice the average rate across all occupational groups in Turkey. Additionally, the sector's fatal accident incidence rate is determined to be nearly three times higher than that of the European Union countries with the highest fatal accident rates. This situation indicates that occupational accidents in Turkey are more likely to result in death and suggests the presence of structural deficiencies in the effectiveness of occupational health and safety measures, highlighting the need to revise and strengthen preventive policies.