PHNOM PENH, Jan 15 (NNN-AKP) – Fifty Cambodian garment factory workers were killed and 1,956 others injured, in traffic accidents in 2019, said a National Social Security Fund (NSSF)’s report, released on Tuesday.
The figure showed a slight increase when compared to 2018, the report said, noting that in 2018, road crashes killed 42 garment workers and injured 1,821 others.
The country’s multi-billion-U.S.-dollar garment industry comprised of about 1,000 factories, employing approximately 750,000 workers.
Workers usually travel to and from their factories every day, by standing in the back of flatbed trucks, which are often overloaded with up to 50 people.
NSSF director, Ouk Samvithyea, said, last year his officials introduced traffic law to some 23,873 drivers and 30,747 garment workers.
“We will continue to educate them about traffic law and hope that casualties from road crashes involving garment workers will go down this year,” he told reporters after the NSSF’s annual meeting.– NNN-AKP