Workers Memorial Day Formal Recognition Announced

The UK will officially recognise Workers Memorial Day to commemorate thousands of people who have died, been seriously injured or made ill through their work, Yvette Cooper announced today.This follows the Government’s consultation in July to explore options for official recognition of the day, which gained widespread support.

This year, the UK will join the many other countries around the world that officially recognise the Day on 28 April, the International Day of Action for Safety and Health at Work.  Formal recognition will reinforce the significance of the Day and raise awareness of the number of people who are killed, disabled, injured or made unwell through their work.

Work and Pensions Secretary of State Yvette Cooper said:

“I am delighted to announce that the UK will officially recognise Workers Memorial Day.  This is a tribute to all those who have campaigned long and hard, including bereaved families, trade unions, campaign groups, and many other organisations and individuals.

“For the first time, the UK will join countries across the globe in remembrance of all those killed at work and for the families they have left behind, and the many more who have been harmed.  It is also a spur to greater efforts to improve health and safety for today’s and tomorrow’s working population.”

While the UK has one of the best health and safety records in the world, official figures show that 180 people were killed at work last year and over 27,000 suffered major injury.  Around 8,000 each year die from occupational cancers and lung diseases.

There have been an increasing number of commemorative events in the UK in recent years as Workers Memorial Day has become a focal point for bereaved families, unions, campaign organisations and local authorities among others.    As more people have become involved in these events, there has been growing support for formal recognition of the Day.

Commemorations will continue to be led by individuals, employers, trade unions and community organisations.  In keeping with the outcome of the consultation, the Government will encourage commemorations to be held on the day itself throughout the UK.  The Government and Ministers will help support and promote these commemorations.

GM Hazards Centre is part of the national Hazards Campaign which brought WMD to this country in the 1990s.

Hilda Palmer from GM Hazards welcomed the Government announcement issuing this press release :

"We have been in the forefront of organising events in Manchester and promoting Workers Memorial Day on 28th April throughout the North West and the UK, as a day to ‘Remember the Dead’, the many thousands in the UK who are killed at or by work, and also to ‘Fight for the Living’ by campaigning for necessary improvements in workplace health and safety to stop these mostly preventable deaths (2). GMHC provides posters, background material and the purple ‘forget me knot’ ribbon    we wear to remember the dead.

We are pleased that the UK has joined the other countries which also officially recognise the day. We are also pleased that the DWP has accepted some of our responses to their consultation and also those of Families Against Corporate Killers (3), that WMD will be marked on the 28th April each year, and that the events will continue to be led, as they have been for many years,  by health and safety organisations and campaigners such as GMHC, bereaved families and trade unions, and that ‘The Government and Ministers will help support and promote these commemorations’.

We want that Government support to include taking immediate action on measures which would reduce deaths and injuries such as giving directors positive legal duties for health and safety and supporting workers and trade union safety reps."

However, they go on to challenge the official record of deaths in the UK:

"We are disappointed that the Minister states in the announcement that ‘official figures show that 180 people were killed at work last year.’ but this is inaccurate. 180 is only the number of workers killed in incidents at work which are reported to the HSE and Local Authorities and it excludes all those workers killed while working but whose deaths are reported to other authorities.

For example the 16 workers killed when their helicopter crashed into the sea off Aberdeen in April 2009, and the 6 workers killed in Morecambe Bay crash in December 2006 would not be included in the ‘official figures’. Add in the 1,000 nationally killed in work related road traffic incidents, members of the public killed by work activities, suicides due to work, and we estimate the total may be up to 1.500 per year in incidents.

The ‘official figures’ also undercount the numbers dying from work-related illness which we estimate as up to 50,000 per year. It is illogical to discount any worker killed at or by work, but worse it underestimates the harm caused by work and so reduces resources and policy priority for action."

Source: GNN