(Tbilisi, August 22,
2019) – The safety of workers in Georgia’s mines is
at serious risk due to insufficient government regulation and resulting mining
practices that prioritize production quotas and put workers’ safety in jeopardy,
Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 60-page report “‘No Year without Deaths’: A Decade of Deregulation
Puts Georgian Miners at Risk” documents how weak labor
protections and limited government oversight have allowed mining practices that
undermine safety to flourish. Georgian labor law does not sufficiently regulate
working
hours, rest time, weekly breaks, and night work, and does not provide for government
oversight of all labor conditions.
