Workers' Memorial Day, 28 April

In the UK, latest HSE figures show workplace fatalities are up, major injuries are up and reportable over-three-day injuries are up. Asbestos cancers alone kill more people each year than road traffic accidents. Meanwhile enforcement by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) dropped off dramatically last year (Hazards 89).

HSE investigated nearly 28,000 incidents and complaints in 2003/04, but prosecuted employers in fewer than 1,000 cases. The average fine per offence was just £9,858. A total of 235 workers died at work; only 11 directors or managers were convicted of safety offences.

But safety criminals should watch out. Workers' Memorial Day, with a theme this year of "prevention and employer accountability," will put the spotlight on safety abuses.

Unions and campaigners have two key aims. The first is the introduction of laws and enforcement strategies that treat deaths caused by employer recklessness or negligence at work with the same seriousness as other acts of needless, destructive, preventable violence.

The second is a new way of working that means workers don't have to put aside normal human rights when they enter the workplace, but that guarantees them the right to a voice and the right to a safe and healthy job (Hazards 89).

In 21st century Britain, you can still lose your job for raising safety concerns, still lose your life for staying quiet. While the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) tells us "health and safety is the cornerstone of a civilised society" (Hazards 86), it oversees a system that falls well short of civilised.

Workers' Memorial Day, 28 April, is the day workers' worldwide say "enough!". We are not drones and we are not factory fodder. We deserve to leave work with our dignity and our health intact.

Get involved
Arrange a meeting or an event. Find out what your union is doing. Use the Hazards poster at work [pdf] • Other resources

Greater Manchester Hazards Centre
WMD 2005 briefing [pdf]

Hazards Campaign resources
Get your free posters and forget-me-knot ribbons (£25 per 100) from Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, 23 New Mount Street, Manchester, M4 4DE. Tel: 0161 953 4037. 'Forget-me-knot' ribbons print-off-and-use order form [word].