President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described workplace accidents in Turkey as shameful and said that the reason behind these accidents is employers' failure to understand human rights. Speaking at the Occupational Health and Safety Conference in Istanbul on Sunday, President Erdoğan drew attention to a survey by the International Labor Organization (ILO), which indicates that 98 percent of workplace accidents in Turkey are preventable, provided necessary precautions are taken. "We should not see people as robots. To be able to prevent occupational accidents, we need to think in a human centric way," said Erdoğan. "Despite the regulations which we established in recent years, the ILO report shows that we are yet to reach the desired level."The president said that the problem is related not to the facilities, technology or regulations, but to the treatment of workers.It is haram, or Islamically impermissible, to profit by taking from employees' salaries or social rights, Erdoğan noted, adding that workers should be aware of their own safety, as well as the government and employers. Erdoğan called for employers not to exploit their workers, but to increase their salaries based on their efforts. Erdoğan made an interesting suggestion, saying that if each employer hired one more worker, that would give 1.5 million jobless people the chance to be employed. "One [more] worker won't make anyone poor, on the contrary, it would make one rich."In 2014, the government stepped up its efforts to improve the working conditions of miners following the accidents. An omnibus bill, which includes litigation for the mining industry that was tabled after the Soma coal mine disaster in May 2014 was passed by Parliament in September 2014.According to the bill, which aimed for better conditions for miners, the insurance debts of mine workers who lost their lives in the Soma mining disaster were canceled. The families of the victims of Soma received a pension regardless of their monthly income. One of the relatives of each Soma victim was provided with the right to reside in state institutions.The bill came as a relief to miners. According to the bill, the seniority requirement is being removed and miners' working time is not exceeding 36 hours per week and six hours a day. The retirement age is also reduced to 50 from 55. Paid leave, annual leave, education and course duration, the period of preparation before and after work and national holidays, is counted as working time for laborers who are insured to work in areas such as mines, tunnels and drain construction sites, and employers will have to assign a job security expert as well as a doctor and health staff. The miners working in lignite (brown coal) and coal mines are also not to be paid less than double the minimum wage.