Fallen Workers Remembered this Workers’ Memorial Day

April 27th, 2010. By janem

Did you know that today is Workers’ Memorial Day? Not to be confused with Memorial Day in May, people worldwide will join together this April 28^th and remember those disabled, injured, made unwell or killed in the workplace. The purpose of this day is to sympathize with those who have suffered due to unsafe, negligent or unfair employment practices, and to raise awareness by encouraging and lobbying unions, lawyers and government for the fair, healthy and safe treatment of workers.

Canada first observed Workers’ Memorial Day in1984, and since that time trade unionists now mark April 28 as an International Day of Mourning:  the slogan “”Remember the dead, fight for the living,” has been adopted by the US (in 1989) and a host of nations, from Asia to Europe to Africa.

It’s important that the public play its part to keep workers safe and to keep in check the tendencies of companies and employers to choose profit over safety. Throughout the world, it is estimated that approximately 270 million accidents occur in the workplace, and that more than 150 million people acquire illnesses related to unsafe or toxic work environments.

April 28 is also the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Although OSHA and EPA have made considerable strides in controlling workplace incidents, the organizations say there is a long way to go. A spokesperson for a federation of international labor unions recently said that “…job fatalities, injuries and illnesses have been reduced significantly as have exposures to toxic substances such as asbestos, lead, benzene and cotton dust.”

But asbestos in the workplace is killing people at an alarming rate; people who were exposed to the fibre possibly decades ago and are just now being diagnosed with mesothelioma or have yet to be diagnosed. Nearly five hundred thousand people die every year as a result of negligent exposure to dangerous substances and of those, about 100,000 people die from asbestos-related disease.

In its 2009 report, “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect,” OSHA reported that more than 389,000 workers now can say their lives have been saved since the passage of the OSH Act in 1970.  Still, too many workers remain at risk.

On average, 15 workers were fatally injured and more than 10,959 workers were injured or made ill each day of 2007. These statistics do not include deaths from occupational diseases, which claim the lives of an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 workers each year in the US. Nor do they include the number of workers who did not report a work-related an injury or illness to their employer. As stated in its report, OHSA cites the following reasons for not reporting:

• Economic incentives can influence workers. Employer-implemented programs that offer financial rewards for individuals or departments for going a certain number of days without an injury may discourage workers from reporting.
• Employees do not want to be labeled as accident-prone.
• Employers implement programs that discipline or even terminate workers when they report an injury, discouraging workers from reporting.

Clearly, underreporting is a major problem in the workplace and all the more reason for everyone to support and lobby more funding for OHSA, which desperately needs more resources to protect workers adequately. “A combination of too few OSHA inspectors and low penalties makes the threat of an OSHA inspection hollow for too many employers…more than 8.8 million workers still are without OSHA coverage.”

So for the sake of all those workers fallen, let’s do our best to protect our future and the future of workers worldwide.

Memorial for Workers
I write these words of honor, for those who gave their lives;
And for their families, their husbands and their wives.
For those whose lives were spent, doing what they must
Working for a living like every one of us.
Their time cut short, by things that didn’t have to be;
To make the workplace safer, for people like you and me.
To make sure their stories will never go untold;
To always keep their memories from ever growing cold.
We must remember the price they all had to pay;
When we honor the men and women on Workers Memorial Day.

Mike Baird
Lodge 21, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
Read April 28, 1995

Tags: Asbestos, mesothelioma, occupational accidents, workers' memorial day, workplace accidents. NSL

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