Worker's Memorial Day is a holiday observed worldwide on April 28th. 

Also known as International Workers' Memorial Day, this holiday serves as a remembrance for all those workers who have been maimed, injured, disabled, made sick, or killed by their job.

It's a day to highlight the unsafe working conditions that some workers have to endure and to address the need for more workplace safety measures to be implemented to keep workers safe.

Every year more people are killed at work than in wars. Most don't die of mystery ailments, or in tragic "accidents". They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn't that important as a priority. Transportation causes more work-place deaths than any other occupation.

The next four most common reasons for workplace deaths are workplace violence (human and animal), slips and falls, contact with equipment and objects, and exposure to harmful substances and environments. However, these four cause more workplace deaths combined than transportation alone.

The History of Workers' Memorial Day

This holiday was first created in 1989 by the AFL-CIO. They established the holiday to honor the thousands of workers killed and injured on the job every year. They placed this holiday on April 28th because that's the date the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 went into effect in 1971.

Observing Workers' Memorial Day

We must never forget the lives that are impacted by occupational incidents, illnesses, and diseases. In memory and honor of those we have lost or have been injured, we will come together not only to remember and recognize them this Workers Memorial Day, but to educate all of the importance of workplace safety to ultimately prevent future tragedies.