The Nezavisnost Union said on Thursday that 70 people lost their lives on the job in Serbia last year.

Union President Cedanka Andric said on World Day for Health and Safety at Work that the union’s gathering in Pancevo was meant to draw the attention of the authorities, employers and the public to “the terrible fact that last year in Serbia 70 of our colleagues lost their lives to serious injuries at work or at their workplace”. She told the Nezavisnost portal that the deaths could have been avoided if safety measures had been in place.

“We want to tell employers to implement measures for safe and healthy labor, that this has no alternative and that the state has to be more strict in punishing the people not implementing those measures,” she said.