This month, for the first time, we published a report that covers the status of work accidents in all sectors of the labor market, including the construction sector, which accounts for 60% of work accidents, even though it employs only 8% of workers. We also published exclusive information revealing that the police has only opened investigations for a quarter of the severe accidents which have occurred. The conclusion is simple: because investigations are insufficient and there is no due process, deterrence against future work accidents is non-existent. 

However, there are accomplishments that should be noted. For example, KLO advocacy efforts ensured that a government contractor, Mahamid Tawfiq, was held accountable to the law for the dangerous safety conditions at his construction company’s work sites. Through our successful petition calling for transparency of information regarding safety orders at construction sites, we learned that although his company had received two stop work orders, one due to the death of an employee at the company’s Kiryat Gat site, they had faced no consequences and were still registered as a potential government contractor. This despite a regulation enacted in February which prohibits companies with this sort of track record from participating in government bids. After KLO provided information about this situation to the press, the Ministry of Finance announced that the contractor would be crossed off the list.