The explosion threw the top of the tank more than 50 meters from the scene. (Nafaroa Firefighter)
Another 56-year-old employee has lost his life at his workplace in Navarroa. During this incident, a tank exploded at an alcohol factory in Rizara, resulting in death.
Members of the Rizara and Irunya municipal police, the Nafaroa fire station, two ambulances and the town’s municipal police attended the scene.
The incident occurred around 10:49 a.m., when one of the agricultural waste tanks being cleaned at Agraco’s treatment facility exploded for unknown reasons. However, according to data collected by the LAB union, workers were welding a silo when the massive explosion occurred, which caused the deaths.
In fact, after the explosion, the company’s employees realized they had a missing colleague, whose body was later discovered. The deceased was an employee of La Maison de Villatuerta, working exclusively in industrial maintenance.
There was no fire or waste discharge during this incident.
The explosion sent the top of a 20,000 cubic meter tank storing grape waste for later processing into the river more than 50 meters away, where it fell onto the road. Access from Villatuerta is blocked as it is part of the Camino de Santiago route.
The man’s body was taken to the Navarro Forensic Institute, where an autopsy was scheduled to be performed. Members of the Rizara Justice Brigade investigate the causes and dynamics of the incident
This is the third worker to die in a workplace accident this week. The other two deaths were recorded last Tuesday, the same day two employees lost their lives after falling from heights in Oreta and Loiu. In the first case, the worker was only 28 years old, while in the second case, the deceased worker was 47 years old.
The new workplace deaths mean that 48 workers have died in work-related accidents at Hego Euskal Geria so far this year, 15 of them Died at Nafaroa. A rigorous investigation is required to establish the facts and any liability that may arise from them. ”
Be at the forefront of industrial accidents
In a statement released by the center, it accused Mr. Nafaroa of “leading the Spanish state in terms of industrial accidents” and that it had asked the Navarra executive branch to “take over labor inspection powers as soon as possible” and “start businesses”. Provide necessary means to ensure thorough and effective control over the home.
LAB added: “This new worker death, the second in Navarre this week, shows the urgent need to take immediate measures to avoid this social and labor scourge.” .
To this end, the report considers that “organizational control is fundamental, requiring organizations to comply effectively with occupational health regulations.” “It is essential that employers comply with occupational health regulations, because without enforcement they can kill workers with total impunity.”
He added: “There are only 10 labor inspectors in the entire Navarroa region. In Navarroa, for example, 26,000 traumatic work accidents were recorded in 2023.” He therefore said: “It is clear that the means of forcing employers to comply with anti-labor laws are woefully inadequate, and the consequences are being borne by Navarre’s working class, with many deaths.” Since 2018, the average has been 13. Number of deaths per year. The year is not yet over and at least 15 people have died.
He concluded his statement with the following: “This is a matter of life and death.The Nafalupa government must immediately ensure that sufficient resources are allocated as soon as possible to bring employers under control and ensure effective compliance with all anti-labor regulations. We must request that the authority be taken over.”
A rally was called for Tuesday.
The ELA union also published a memo calling for a rally in front of the Navarra government headquarters next Tuesday, the 22nd, at 12:00 p.m.
In a statement, the group recalled that Nafaroa “had the worst accident rate and most of these fatalities could have been avoided with basic safety measures.”
ELA believes that “this is due to impunity on the part of employers and collusion on the part of organizations.” Companies have not complied with labor risk prevention regulations for 30 years, but the government of Navarra has failed to manage such non-compliance while allocating public funds to a completely ineffective social dialogue on occupational safety and health. It refuses to establish the necessary means. “That’s unacceptable.”
Given the seriousness of the situation, the Center urged political parties negotiating Navarroa’s general budget to “stop funding the Territorial Preventive Mission and take urgent measures to manage the security situation in Navarroa. We request that sufficient funds be allocated to establish “works in Navarra, including a threefold increase in the number of labor inspection officers.”
“Terrible” drift
The CCOO described the fluctuations in workplace accident data in Navarra in recent years as “terrible” and called on Navarre’s business associations to strictly comply with prevention regulations.
Similarly, the union called on these associations to be “belligerent against companies that do not comply with the rules and not to cover up or defend companies that systematically do not comply with the Industrial Accident Prevention Act.” There is. In his opinion, employers “need to play a fundamental role in stopping this trend in Navarre.”
Meanwhile, UGT “deeply” regretted the worker’s death and declared the accident figures “reaching alarming and unaffordable levels”.
He called for a thorough and rigorous investigation to determine the cause of the incident, stressing that “Since the beginning of this year, there has been an alarming increase in fatal occupational accidents in Navarra.” He has emphasized the importance of complying with current legislation on preventive matters in order to reduce the high rate of occupational accidents.
The UGT reiterated the need to allocate more human and material resources to labor inspection with the aim of strengthening the control of compliance with preventive regulations.
