This Workers Memorial Day, April 28^th, we remember the 99* New Zealanders who went to work and never came home, the 99 New Zealanders who were killed at work.

“Workers Memorial Day is a sombre. We remember those whose lives would have been saved if their workplaces had been safer. All of these deaths could have been prevented,” CTU President Richard Wagstaff said.

“On Workers Memorial Day Selina Eruera, mother of Eramiha Pairama who was killed at work while he was working on a forestry block, will sit in a coroners hearing in Taneatua, in the Bay of Plenty. She will listen to the detail of how her son was killed at work and how his death could have been prevented if the right health and safety procedures had been in place,

“Earlier this month new health and safety law came into force. This new law means that kiwis are safer at work.  But there is still work to be done.  We know that people that work on farms need better protections (particularly those using quad bikes). We also know that elected health and safety representatives are crucial in keeping working people safe but are under attack by some employers.  We must also address is the menace of asbestos – New Zealand’s worst workplace killer. We urge Cabinet to ban the import of asbestos containing materials but that is not enough.  We need a plan to eliminate it from our buildings,

“On Workers Memorial Day all around the country events of remembrance are occurring. There are also events focused on fighting for the living; fundraising for the legal work which has justice in its sight for the families whose loved ones never came home,” Wagstaff said.

*ACC statistic here http://www.acc.co.nz/about-acc/statistics/injury-statistics-tool/index.htm?claimtype=fatal&account99=99&age_group=all&gender=all&injury_site=all&cause=all&diagnosis=all&sport=all&scene=all&region=all

Please note that in May there are two coroners’ hearings into forestry workplace deaths in the Rotorua Coroner’s Court. 10 May – Charles Finlay. 11 May – David McMurtrie