29 January 2010
Lucie Ponting

Unions and safety bodies have welcomed the government’s decision to recognise Workers’ Memorial Day officially for the first time on 28 April 2010.
 
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which consulted on the issue last summer, said official recognition would both reinforce the day’s significance and raise awareness of the number of people killed, injured or made ill at work each year.

“For the first time, the UK will join countries across the globe in remembrance of all those killed at work and for the families they have left behind, and the many more who have been harmed,” said work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper. “It is also a spur to greater efforts to improve health and safety for today’s and tomorrow’s working population.”

Organisations representing workers and safety professionals were quick to welcome the announcement. “Official recognition of Workers’ Memorial Day is both a logical and a progressive step in the right direction to highlight the real purpose of health and safety legislation: to save lives,” said International Institute of Risk and Safety Management chief executive Brian Nimick.

Adding her support, Julie Nerney, chief executive officer of the British Safety Council, stressed the importance of remembering that “for the relatives, friends and colleagues of those who have died as a result of workplace ill-health and injury, the memory and loss adversely affects them day-in, day-out”.

Unions, which have lobbied the government to grant official recognition for many years, also welcomed the move. “Workers' Memorial Day has been an important date in the trade union calendar for many years and we look forward to working with ministers to increase its profile,” TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said.

Workers’ Memorial Day, which originated in Canada in 1984, has been informally commemorated in the UK since 1992. It is now recognised as a national day in 19 countries. In 2001 the International Labour Organisation recognised the day and announced April 28 as an International Day of Action for Safety and Health at Work.

The DWP said the government will help to support and promote commemorations led by individuals, employers, unions and community organisations across the UK, and will encourage people to hold such events on the day itself.

This year, the TUC is calling for a minute's silence in workplaces up and down the country at noon on the 28 April.

Categories:
Health, Safety, News



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