Two annual events taking place on 28 April serve as a reminder of the importance of the occupational safety and health profession in protecting workers.
On International Workers’ Memorial Day, organised by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), we remember those who have lost their lives or suffered life-changing injuries or illness at work.
These tragedies could have been prevented. This is why 28 April also marks World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which raises awareness of actions to prevent injury and death at work. It is an initiative of the International Labour Organization, which this year is focusing on strategies to strengthen national occupational safety and health systems to build resilience, to face crises now and in the future. IOSH’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a systematic approach to protecting workers: preparedness is the key to prevention.
Jimmy Quinn, President of IOSH, said: “Our members – occupational safety and health professionals – have had a crucial role in responding to the pandemic. They’ve helped to ensure that safe practices and procedures have been introduced and implemented in the workplace to protect workers, customers and suppliers. If ever there was a time for our members to demonstrate the value of their knowledge, skills and experience, it has been now. IOSH has supported them by producing and sharing up-to-date guidance, continuing to be a trusted and authoritative source of information throughout the pandemic.
“Yet we also remember that even before the pandemic 2.78 million people were dying each year from work-related illness and injury. These deaths are even more tragic because they are preventable.”
The following figures from the ITUC show the scale of the challenges in protecting people at work:
Jimmy added: “These shocking facts remind us of the need to redouble our efforts with governments, business and labour to bring about radical change in how work is organised. Work should support life. It should not do the opposite – endanger life. This is the overarching message from IOSH on this day of remembrance and motivation to protect workers around the world.
“IOSH has always advocated that the best approach is prevention first. Anticipating and preparing for risks requires investment in and good management of resilient occupational safety and health systems. It also requires a competent, trained and experienced occupational safety and health profession.”
IOSH has been added to the register of participants in the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, aligning our strategy to universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. We are committed to being an exemplar of sustainability in supporting the health, safety and wellbeing of all workers.
IOSH is encouraging members and others to observe a minute’s silence at 11am BST on 28 April to pay tribute to those who have died or suffered life-changing injuries or illness at work.
https://iosh.com/more/news-listing/work-should-support-life/
⚠️Se aproxima el 2⃣8⃣ de abril, Día internacional en memoria de los trabajadores fallecidos y heridos.
ℹ️Descubre aquí cómo unirte a la campaña para hacer de la salud y la seguridad un derecho laboral fundamental:https://t.co/z6F3H6zR2l
— IndustriALL (@IndustriALL_GU) April 26, 2021
Health and safety is your right.
28 April – Workers Memorial Day
Health&Safety is YOUR RIGHT 2
Protection from
?#COVID19
?Heavy lifting
?Dangerous substances
?Stress, harassment & bullying
Trade unions fighting ✊ every day for safe&healthy workplaces for all workers#IWMD21 #SaveLivesAtWork@ituc @etuc_ces pic.twitter.com/RyOWGWoi2e— kesk international (@kesk_int) April 25, 2021
After a year of COVID-19, a National Day of Mourning for workers who died or were injured on the job isn’t enough for some labour activists in Greater Toronto.
They want a whole week, from Sunday, April 25, to Saturday, May 1, declared a “week of pause” in Ontario.
There’s no accurate count of everyone — farm labourers, Amazon associates, personal support workers, nurses, bus drivers, cleaners, restaurant servers — who lost their lives or suffered over the pandemic after catching the virus at work, but it dwarfs tolls commemorated during past Days of Mourning in Ontario.
It was the Tamil Workers Network, volunteers working with the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, which first proposed going beyond the Day of Mourning on April 28 to “make Ontario pause, reflect on the power of its workers and the respect they deserve.”
Jennifer Huang, representing the labour council’s Chinese Workers Network, called the Tamil workers’ letter timely. “There’s a whole bunch of things (in it) we wholeheartedly agree with,” said Huang, who said her group will likely write its own open letter to the province asking for similar things. I think workers need to speak out,” said Huang, who said besides the virus, many workers have had to deal during the past year at work with “a skin pandemic” of energy-sapping racism that is mentally and emotionally taxing.
“Sometimes, the injuries we bear are not just physical” but mental or emotional, she said.
Scarborough Mirror.
https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10380563-tamil-and-chinese-workers-networks-hope-to-pause-ontario-from-april-25-to-may-1/
CTSP (Mauritius) held a virtual activity on Saturday 24 April. The activity had a series of other connected activities, ie. local and national level:
Jane Ragoo
General Secretary – CTSP (Mauritius) Confédération des Travailleurs des Secteurs Publique et Privé
5 Nalla Street (Ex 6-10), Elias Street – Rose Hill, Republic of Mauritius
April 28 is Workers’ Memorial Day.
Remembrance and Resistance: Struggle for Health, Safety, Livelihood and Rights!
After more than a year of the longest lockdown in the world, Covid-19 cases in the Philippines continue to rise, peaking at 15,000 in just one day. The socio-economic conditions continue to worsen, while the country’s already weak healthcare system has completely broken down. As we near April 28 International Workers’ Memorial Day and May 1 International Labour Day, we strengthen our demands to save workers’ lives.
The government has failed to strengthen the country’s healthcare system. Hospitals are overwhelmed and overran due to lack of facilities, equipment, and staff. Hospital beds are fully booked with Covid patients, leaving no room for other sick and even emergency cases. Last year, an estimate of 1,245 healthcare workers were infected, 27 of whom had died (21 doctors and 6 nurses). We have then demanded to fast-track and prioritize the protection of health workers and other front liners through production and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE), and implementing hazard benefits and mass hiring. Yet, as of April 11 this year, the number of infected healthcare workers reached 16, 510 while a total of 86 had died.
The government has failed to protect workers’ safety and health. While countries all over the world underwent economic crisis due to work stoppage, workers bore the brunt of reviving the receding economies. In the name of doing business, workers’ safety and lives have been traded off.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recorded 7,781 confirmed Covid cases in 2,234 workplaces. While this does not present the actual total number of infected, especially due to lack of mass testing and aggressive contact tracing, the highest recorded cases belong to regions of big labor force population. In the recent surge of Covid cases, the National Capital Region (NCR), Region IV-A, Region III and Region VII recorded the highest cases. These regions have the greatest number of manufacturing ecozones and information technology parks and centers. According the data of Department of Health (DOH), the age group 20-49 recorded the highest number of positive cases, presenting a high probability of these belonging to the labor force population.
Last year, when companies and workplaces went back to full operation, cases of Covid outbreak occurred in occupation sites such as Taguig Construction Site (300 construction workers), Metro Rail Transit (200 employees), business-processing outsource sites in different regions (415 workers), companies in special economic zones of Laguna (more than 400 workers), manufacturing company in Central Luzon (more than 200 workers), and a food manufacturing plant in Cavite (more than 700 tested positive.) For returning overseas Filipinos, a total of 16, 233 were tested positive as of April 11, fourteen of whom had died.
Amid the pandemic, workers’ health has become more vulnerable due to the economic systems in place. Without free mass testing and treatment, workers are not convinced to take the necessary measures to ensure their health and safety. This coupled with meager wages, lack of cash aid from the government, and “no work, no pay” scheme, contributes to the workers’ fear of losing daily income.
The Filipino workers continue to strengthen demands for health, safety, and social protection. Workers’ health and safety is government responsibility, yet our own government has brought us to the brink of death due to sickness and poverty. On this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day, also known as World Day for Safety and Health, we remember those who have died due to the pandemic and government negligence, those who have laid their lives in the cause to improve and save workers’ lives. We mourn the dead, consolidate our ranks, and collectively demand:
Join the national day of action on April 28, 2021. Wear black shirt and join the social media protest by posting on your individual and organizational social media pages with our demands. At 6:00 PM, join the nationally coordinated candle lighting protest in your homes or offices, and post photos or videos on your pages. These activities will serve as build up actions for the upcoming Labour Day.
Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living! Save Workers’ Lives!
Occupational Safety and Health is a Fundamental Right!
Workers’ Safety from Covid-19 is Government Responsibility!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/170025585213/
April 28 is International Workers’ Memorial Day or Workers’ Mourning Day. This is the international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work.
Unions Tasmania Event (Hobart) – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
1pm, Franklin Square, Hobart
We invite the community to join with unions, families, and workers to commemorate International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD). This important day is marked annually around the world on April 28, an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured, or made unwell by their work.
One death at work is one too many. Every worker has the right to go to work and come home safely.
Come along to pay your respects to those that didn’t make it home and join our calls for improved workplace safety laws in Tasmania.
Registration is not essential, but check in for COVID purposes will occur at the event.
1pm
More information can be found here.
Unions Tasmania Event (Launceston) – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
8am, Workers’ Memorial Park, Elizabeth Gardens on Invermay Rd (near UTAS Stadium), Launceston
We invite the community to join with unions, families, and workers to commemorate International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD). This important day is marked annually around the world on April 28, an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured, or made unwell by their work.
One death at work is one too many. Every worker has the right to go to work and come home safely.
Come along to pay your respects to those that didn’t make it home and join our calls for improved workplace safety laws in Tasmania.
Registration is not essential, but check in for COVID purposes will occur at the event.
8am – BBQ breakfast provided.
More information can be found here.
Unions WA Event – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
10.30am, Solidarity Park, Harvest Terrace, West Perth
Come and remember those we’ve lost and fight for a fair and safe workplace for all.
Hosted by CFMEU WA, CPSU/CSA, AWU WA Branch, Unions WA.
10.30am
More information can be found here.
VTHC Event – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
10.30am, Victorian Trades Hall, 54 Victoria St, South Carlton, and online
Every year, Victorian Trades Hall Council hosts a memorial service to remember those Victorians who lost their lives at work.
Please join us on the 28th of April for International Workers Memorial Day 2021 to commemorate the workers we’ve lost in the past year.
The ceremony will include a minute’s silence at 11am and an opportunity to lay wreaths.
This event is a COVID safe event and numbers are capped, so RSVPs (and masks) are essential. The memorial service will be held in person at Trades Hall, however this is subject to change pending COVID conditions.
The event will also be broadcast live through the VTHC facebook page.
Remember the dead and fight like hell for the living.
10.30am – 11.15am
RSVP here.
Unions NT Event – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
11am-12.30pm – Raintree Park, Darwin
We invite you all for a day of remembrance for those that went to work, never to return.
We welcome all those affected by the loss of a loved one or simply anyone that wishes to mourn the dead and fight for the living!
Here in the NT, we have a 5 year (2014-2019) average of 4 work-related deaths a year – Safework.
Raintree Park, Darwin.
11am-12.30pm.
More information can be found here.
Unions NSW Event – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
11.55am – Online
You are invited to our online International Day of Mourning service with families and friends who have lost loved ones as a result of workplace incidents or occupational illnesses at work.
RSVP for a reminder text msg before the service starts.
The service provides everyone in NSW with the opportunity to attend and to ensure we are COVID safe, we will be commemorating the 2021 International Day of Mourning online.
We would like you to join the families and their friends to our online service at 11.55am (for a 12pm start) on Wednesday, 28 April 2021 via the International Day of Mourning website at: https://www.idm2021.com.au/
The thirty-minute service will contain messages from Unions NSW, members of the NSW Parliament, religious representatives and representatives from family members who have lost a loved one.
You will be able to interact and offer your condolences during the online service. The platform which we will be using will allow you to post your message on the day.
For more information or if you have trouble accessing the website, please email Mary at myaager@unionsnsw.org.au or contact her by phone on 0408 931 899. On behalf of Unions NSW & supported by the NSW Government.
11.55am
SA Unions Event – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
12pm, Steps of Parliament House, North Terrace, Adelaide
28th of April is International Workers’ Memorial Day. Come join us on the Steps of Parliament House to rally and show support. We will remember those whose lives have been lost at work and advocate for changes to Work Health and Safety Laws.
The rally will highlight; justice for injured or killed workers and the need for industrial manslaughter laws; protecting workplace mental health (act on suicides and sexual harassment); and improved safety rights for workers and their Representatives.
More information can be found here.
12pm
QCU Event – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
11am-12pm, Emma Miller Place, Roma St, Brisbane
Acknowledging the 17,000 frontline health workers lost globally during COVID and every worker who has died at work.
Further information can be found here.
11am-12pm
Unions ACT Event – International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April 2021
9am-9.45am, National Workers Memorial, Parkes, Canberra
Mourn the Dead
Fight Like Hell for the Living
International Workers Memorial Day is the day we remember the workers who were killed and injured at work.
Join us at the National Workers Memorial in Parkes, on 28 April at 9am for a ceremony.
More information can be found here.
https://www.actu.org.au/ohs/events
