Thirteen workers die from workplace injuries every day in the U.S., and to mark Workers Memorial Day, the agency is broadcasting an event to remember lives lost and stress the high cost of ignoring safety on the job.
April 28 is Workers Memorial Day and OSHA is joining with “some of those scarred by workplace tragedies at the department’s headquarters in Washington … for an online national Workers Memorial Day ceremony at 1 p.m. EDT.”
Workers Memorial Day sees the people these workers left behind come together in remembrance to help others come to understand the impact of their tragic losses and hopefully prevent further workplace tragedy.
“Workers Memorial Day allows us to remember those whose lives were claimed by their jobs … because required safety precautions were not taken to prevent tragedy,” Assistant Secretary for OSHA Doug Parker said. “Every year, thousands of workers are unable to return home to their families and their communities because workplace safety and health were overlooked.”
OSHA’s Workers Memorial Day event will include remarks from:
- Jesse Stolzenfels, a coal miner at the Sago Mine in West Virginia, where an explosion and collapse claimed the lives of his 12 co-workers in 2006
- Rena Harrington, whose son was fatally injured in 2018 at a Massachusetts construction site, and
- Alejandro Zuniga, an advocate with the Houston-based Faith and Justice Worker Center, who will discuss workers’ rights and the impact of worker fatalities on their families and communities.
A listing of other Workers Memorial Day events can be found here.
