Trade unions on Friday called a 24-hour national port strike after a worker was fatally crushed by a two-tonne ball of cellulose in the port of Genoa.
The unions asked all Italian port workers to join the Saturday strike in support of demands for safer working conditions.
Port employees in Genoa, meanwhile, staged an immediate 24-hour strike after the Friday morning death of their co-worker, a 34-year-old father of two.
The workers stopped all cargo loading and unloading and set up road blockades to prevent cars and trucks from entering or leaving the port area.
The Genoa workers had already staged a two-hour stoppage on Thursday to highlight safety issues after two people were injured on the job.
The government is currently working on tougher job health and safety legislation, with the cabinet approving a draft law on Friday to present to parliament.
Premier Romano Prodi stressed that the issue was a priority for his centre-left government.
He sent his condolences to the families of the Genoa worker and another worker who died on a construction site in Milan on Friday after being hit by a bulldozer.
The premier described the victims as "martyrs" who had "sacrificed their lives for us all".
Labour Minister Cesare Damiano called on MPs to approve the government's bill as soon as possible.
In a country where work-related accidents cause an average three deaths per day, the minister said that no time could be lost.
Health Minister Livia Turco stressed that the government's bill would include measures to combat illegal labour, protect immigrant workers and tighten control of the subcontracting chain.
Lower-tier subcontractors, particularly in the construction field, frequently seek to contain costs by hiring illegal labourers and skimping on safety regulations.
Turco said that 85% of job fatalities occurred in the subcontracting sector.
"The law will hold companies who resort to subcontractors more responsible, making them jointly liable in the case of injuries and deaths of workers hired by the subcontractor," the minister explained.
Figures presented in January by Anmil, an association representing injured workers, showed a total of 1,141 work-related fatalities during the period January-November 2006.
While this was 14 fewer than the deaths reported for the same period in 2005, Anmil stressed that fatalities in the industrial and service sectors, which account for 90% of all fatal injuries, increased 2%.
The association also noted that the statistics did not include the number of people who had died from work-related illnesses, which it said amounted to more than 870 for the period 2001-2006.
Of these, 619 died from tumours linked to asbestos exposure, Anmil said.
