Work Deaths Harm Whole Families

Do you remember who died at work? Worldwide, two million are killed by their jobs every year. Work-related diseases and injuries kill more than wars, more than road traffic accidents. And when somebody dies at work, they are never the only victim. This is the message of a new resource published by the trade union safety journal Hazards.
It says work deaths harm whole families, whole communities.

The magazine is working with global trade union organisations to promote the annual, 28 April, event.
A new online report forms part of a package of new resources, and includes 10 case studies highlights the impact on those left behind after a worker is killed.

Anthea Dennis, who lost her 17-year-old son Daniel in a workplace fall on his first week at work, says: "I never appreciated how much pain you could be in. And it doesn't go away, you just learn to live with it."

Linzi Herbertson's husband, Andy, was killed aged 29 when he fell from an unsafe scaffold. "I had to turn off his life support machine on our son's 8th birthday," she says. "The company were fined less than £10,000 and I was on my own with two young children."

Gordon Field, 58, was crushed to death by unsafe lifting gear - at a firm that made safe lifting equipment. His daughter, Sharon Norman, said his employer "pleaded guilty but never said they were sorry. I feel someone must pay for this crime. I would have been satisfied if someone had just said sorry to me but nobody did."

Hazards has also launched a 28 April Facebook page featuring resources and messages from around the world.

Source: TUC Risks

Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services