Kerameus: 'Every loss of human life is a tragedy'
Responding to the opposition’s accusations regarding the tragic accident at the “Violanta” factory, Labour and Social Security Minister Niki Kerameus said in an interview on TALK RADIO 9.89 on Thursday that “every loss of human life is a tragedy.”
Responding to the opposition’s accusations regarding the tragic accident at the “Violanta” factory, Labour and Social Security Minister Niki Kerameus said in an interview on TALK RADIO 9.89 on Thursday that “every loss of human life is a tragedy.”
The minister noted that the aim of any government is for there to be not a single workplace fatality, and that this is pursued through the continuous improvement of the institutional framework, so that there is a steady reduction in occupational accidents.
Regarding the Labour Inspectorate, Kerameus stressed that it is an Independent Authority, which oversees operational and labour relations issues such as, for example, working hours, the use of the Digital Work Card, and compliance with labour legislation, and also issues the statistics on workplace accidents in the country.
“Because there was terrible politicisation, the Independent Authority issued a statement. For the opposition to exploit a tragedy is truly sad. So yesterday the Independent Authority came out and gave all the data year by year on workplace accidents: 46 in 2021, 46 again in 2022, 47 in 2023, 48 in 2024, and 42 up until now in 2025,” said the Minister of Labour, pointing out that according to Eurostat data, Greece ranks third on the list of countries with the fewest accidents in proportion to population.
As Kerameus stated, “inspections by the Independent Authority have increased by 35% from 2019 to the present in the area of health and safety at work, while in the specific Regional Directorate of Thessaly of the Authority there are 57 employees. Specifically, at the ‘Violanta’ factory, in 2025 the Independent Authority carried out four inspections on health and safety issues.”
The Minister of Labour clarified that the Authority investigates complaints and also conducts inspections on its own initiative, while issues of fire protection fall under the responsibility of the fire service.
At the same time, she stressed that it is the responsibility of the central government to constantly improve the framework, something that was done two months ago with the labour and social security ministry bill, which includes a significant number of provisions to strengthen the framework for health and safety at work.
