Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
CATANIA / NEWS – Another tragedy has unfolded in the heart of the Etna production area, forcefully reopening the wound of fatal workplace accidents. A 44-year-old worker lost his life this afternoon after a fatal fall inside Catania’s industrial zone.
The victim had climbed onto the roof of a warehouse belonging to a company that specialises in manufacturing moulds, die holders, templates and forms for machinery. The man was carrying out extraordinary maintenance and repair work to eliminate a series of rainwater leaks when, for reasons still under investigation, the building’s roof suddenly gave way beneath him.
Rescue efforts in vain: police and SPRESAL investigations under way
The impact with the ground, after a fall of several metres, proved fatal: the 44-year-old died instantly. Paramedics from the 118 emergency service arrived promptly in a medical vehicle, but doctors could only confirm the worker’s death.
For the customary surveys and to launch the investigation, officers from the Flying Squads of the Catania Police Headquarters and technicians from SPRESAL (the occupational health and safety service of the provincial health authority (ASP) of Catania) intervened. Inspectors from the health authority and law enforcement have placed the area under seizure to accurately reconstruct the sequence of events, verify the structural soundness and check for the presence of personal protective equipment and the safety measures required by current regulations.
Uil condemns: “We face a slaughter; we need the crime of workplace homicide”
Yet another white-collar death has sparked an immediate and harsh reaction from the union. In a joint statement, the special commissioner of Uil Sicilia Emanuele Ronzoni, the general secretary of Uil Catania Enza Meli and the head of the territorial industry department Giuseppe Caramanna expressed the organisation’s condolences and raised the tone of the confrontation over site protections:
“We feel anger and pain because in Catania people continue to die at work, while reports of accidents grow month by month. #ZeroDeathsAtWork must become the battle of a lifetime for everyone, not just for our union. It is unacceptable that today, too, a worker will not return home. It is unacceptable that another family will be marked forever by a tragic event, for which we demand truth and justice.”
The union representatives called for structural intervention from regional and national government bodies:
“We are facing a slaughter that grows in scale and alarm every day. We are well beyond an emergency, yet the challenge is not being adequately met by the political institutions that should be providing measures and resources for effective prevention. We need more inspections, rigorous training and widespread prevention. We need the introduction of the crime of workplace homicide.”
