Construction worker dies in Haifa

A 36-year-old construction worker died on Wednesday after falling 6 meters (20 feet) at a construction site in Haifa.

First responders found the worker lying unconscious with a head injury. After resuscitation efforts failedthey pronounced him dead at the scene.

The worker fell from the roof of a building in Haifa’s industrial zone.

Deaths of construction workers in Israel are common, largely due to poorly enforced safety codes.

Last month, two men died from the 40th floor of a building under construction in Tel Aviv.

It was the third time in recent years that construction workers had been killed when mechanical scaffolding platforms collapsed.

Haifa Industrial Zone. (Avishag Shaar Yashuv/Flash90)

Last week, the cabinet approved a plan to phase out Haifa’s industrial zone, which health officials say poses a health hazard. The area includes several large factories, including the largest oil refinery in the country.

The government will adopt the recommendations of a committee of senior officials who last year recommended that all petrochemical activity in the industrial zone be halted within a decade, at most. Instead, the state will invest billions of NIS in new housing projects, environmentally friendly jobs, and improved public transportation.