PRATO - An investigation has been opened into the death of 22-year-old Luana D’Orazio, who was crushed to death by industrial machinery in the textile factory in which she was working, as thousands lament the alarming frequency of workplace deaths in Italy. 

  Wednesday, the day after this investigation was announced, saw yet another tragic workplace incident in which a 49 year old worker was killed by a mechanical lathe in a factory in Busto Arizio in the province of Varese. He was taken to hospital in Legnano, but died shortly after.

  On Monday D’Orazio, the mother of a five year old son, was working in the textile factory in Oste di Montemurlo, near Florence, when she became tangled in industrial rollers and crushed. A colleague working close by had his back turned at the moment of the accident and saw nothing and didn’t hear any cries for help, though by the time he realised, it was too late. He raised the alarm, and Carabinieri, ambulances and fire fighters soon arrived but nothing could be done.

  The investigation will look into the lack of safety features and responsible supervisors on the factory floor, and ask why no automatic alarm was active. Two of Luana’s superiors are also under investigation.

  The tragedy has provoked an outcry and among worker’s unions and federations and on social media. Prato’s branches of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), Italian Confederation of Trade Unions (CISL) and Italian Labour Union (UIL) have organised a strike for Friday, as well as a rally in Piazza delle Carceri.

  Just three months ago in Pistoia, the town where D’Orazio also lived with her parents and brother, a 23 year old girl was killed in a similar accident in a textile factory, swallowed up by the machine she was cleaning. 

  National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) data shows that despite falling numbers of workplace accidents in the last two years, the number of serious accidents, resulting in severe injury or death, is in fact increasing. In 2020 there were 1,270 workplace deaths, up 16 percent from 2019, and in the first trimester of 2021 there were 185 workplace deaths, up 11.4 percent from the first trimester of 2020.