Two more workplace fatalities in Italia; the total has now exceeded 700 since the start of the year

Alessandro would have turned 43 in December; Daouda was 48. They were both at work but never returned home. The list of workplace fatalities in Italia is growing: two people have died in the last 24 hours, one in Naples and the other in Campi Bisenzio, in the province of Florence. They are united by tragedy but not by the application of labour law. Alessandro Turiello was working on the refurbishment of a B&B in Via Matteo Renato Imbriani, in the centre of Naples, without a contract, when this morning the balcony floor he was standing on gave way, causing him to fall to the ground from a height of about 10 metres. One of his colleagues was saved at the last moment by clinging to the railing. According to the fire brigade’s reconstruction of events, the two workers were working with pickaxes when, at one point, the balcony collapsed like a trapdoor, whilst remaining attached to the building: no evacuation took place, but access to the balconies has been prohibited. For Turiello, the emergency services’ efforts were in vain; there was only the anguish of his family members, who arrived at the scene immediately. Alongside the fire brigade’s investigations, the police are investigating the case, coordinated by the Labour and Professional Negligence Section of the Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office (Public Prosecutor Manuela Persico, Deputy Public Prosecutor Antonio Ricci): at present, the offences of manslaughter and negligent causing of a collapse are being considered against persons unknown, pending investigations into undeclared work.

According to figures from the CGIL trade union, this is the 64th fatality in Campania, whilst there have been over 700 workplace deaths in Italia since the start of 2026. We move to Tuscany for the second workplace fatality. Daouda Ndoye, of Senegalese origin and a resident of Lucca, had a regular contract: he was employed as a labourer by Autostrade per l’Italia. Last night, he was on duty carrying out routine checks on the A11 motorway when, near the Prato Est toll booth in the municipality of Campi Bisenzio, he was struck by a car driven by a 71-year-old man, who stopped after the accident. The worker had been in the hard shoulder; after getting out of his vehicle, he was struck by the car. The President of the Tuscany Region, Eugenio Giani, is calling for an investigation into working conditions on night-time roadworks: ‘It is right to work at night; we know how much disruption there would otherwise be during the day’ along the motorway routes, but ‘all this,’ he clarifies, ‘must take place in conditions of absolute and complete safety’. Meanwhile, the regional branches of Filt Cgil, Fit Cisl and Uiltrasporti have called for a four-hour strike tomorrow: “A concrete and swift change of approach is urgently needed,” they say, “to strengthen prevention measures and regulations, and to ensure constant and effective monitoring.”