He added: “I renew my appeal for workplace safety to be placed at the top of every political agenda and for the necessary resources to be allocated so that every worker can return home at the end of the working day.”
Another opposition party, the 5Star Movement, has called for the creation of a dedicated prosecutor’s office for safety at work.
The government last week approved measures worth €900 million to improve workplace safety, including incentives for responsible employers as well as more training, inspections and fines.
But unions said the measures won’t reduce the number of accidents caused by hiring inexperienced temporary workers, subcontracting tenders and cutting costs.
Natale Di Cola, the leader in Rome of CGIL, Italy’s largest union, on Tuesday called for an official day of mourning, writing on social media: “Today is a day of pain and anger … Work is humanity, brotherhood and solidarity, that work must protect life and not endanger it.”
He added: “In a healthy country, Octav, at 66, would not have found himself on a construction site doing heavy, intense and dangerous work to earn a living. All this must change.”
Di Cola said safety standards at the Torre dei Conti should have been higher considering it was a public project, funded by the EU. Four other people died in workplace accidents in Italy on Monday, he said, adding: “For Octav and for all of them, we will continue to fight so that work is no longer a cause of pain and suffering.”
