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04 May 2021
"We have just finished celebrating May 1st and we have been overwhelmed by the tragic death of a young worker who wanted, through work, to build a dignified life, not precarious, full of meaning for herself, her family, her community", now "I don't want to go into trade union or judiciary issues and I don't want to blame but reflect on the meaning of this death that questions me because it is the result of a declining work culture and when this happens, the most diabolical effects are produced ". Thus a public reflection disseminated by the diocese of Prato made by Michele Del Campo, director of social and labor pastoral care, regarding the death of Luana D'Orazio in a textile factory in Montemurlo.
Luana D'Orazio had been working for about a year in a textile company in the province of Prato, in Oste di Montemurlo. Yesterday she died at the age of 22, ending up inside the warping machine, the machine that makes it possible to prepare the vertical structure of the canvas that constitutes the weft of the fabric. Luana was also the mother of a 5-year-old boy. He lived in Pistoia, with his parents and brother.
"A young woman, a woman, a worker, a mother is overwhelmed by a car, by a work organization that, although it could be based on safety, has proved to be 'insecure', to the point of dragging her to death", reads in a note. "In 2021 it is not yet possible to die from work and at work - continues the reflection of the diocesan pastoral care -. Security must be guaranteed, organized (not only by law) through negotiation, the creation of shared rules that make the workplace the maximum place of participation and expression of creativity, of ingenuity, looking for the best way not to suffer or die ".
According to an initial reconstruction, the 22-year-old was caught in the roller of the machinery she was working on, and was then dragged. Next to her was a colleague, turned from behind: when he turned around he saw what had happened, but reported that "he had not heard cries for help". The alarm went off immediately, arrived on the spot, in addition to the brigade, carabinieri and health workers, but the rescue was in vain. The technicians of the ASL Toscana center also intervened: they seized machinery and the surrounding area for the verification of safety devices. The judiciary has ordered the autopsy.
Between Prato and Pistoia it is the second fatal injury in a textile company this year: on February 2 Sabri Jaballah, 23, had lost his life crushed by a press in Montale. The trade unions CGIL, CISL and UIL of Prato also recall this, organizing a "strong mobilization action" for Friday.
On the causes await the investigations of the judiciary but in the meantime, they underline, one cannot "fail to note that even today people die for the same reasons and in the same way as fifty years ago: for being crushed in a machine, for falling from a roof . Nothing seems to have changed, despite the technological development of machinery and safety systems. It is as if technology stops at the threshold of factories and rooms. Where people continue to die and where, too often, safety continues to be considered only a cost ".
Luana's friend: she was sunny and full of life, a dreamer
"Luana was a sunny girl full of life, a dreamer, as it should be at that age. It's absurd", Veronica Matragna, friend of childhood of Luana. "I know Luana as a child, she went to school with my sister Jessica - says Veronica - and she came very often to my house, to my parents. I have known her son since he was born. She has always been sunny, it is unfair that she has gone to this age. Absurd. I was talking about her - he adds - a few days ago with my sister: unfortunately she left and will not even be able to give her the last farewell. I will try to do it for her. As a mother I hope justice is done. But certainly nothing he will be able to mend the broken heart of his family. "