Mourn for the Dead, Fight for the Living

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 a priority. Workers’ Memorial Day commemorates those workers. The day is also intended to serve as a rallying cry to “remember the dead, but fight like hell for the living”. In recent days, we have witnessed the needless deaths of workers at opposite ends of the globe in Bangladesh and in Texas.

The ILO reports that although workplace injury deaths had fallen between 2003 and 2008, there had been a dramatic increase in deaths from work-related diseases.

In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive is been shackled by funding cuts and safety rule relaxations. The government says workplace safety laws hold back the economy. But it’s a cynical lie. The arguments are bogus and the statistics behind them are rigged.

In Australia it is workers, not employers, who overwhelmingly bear the costs of workplace injuries and diseases, an official Australian report has shown. The report by Safe Work Australia revealed three-quarters of the costs of workplace injuries and diseases is borne by the injured workers themselves, with just 5 per cent borne by employers.

In America a study that revealed the annual “economic burden” of occupational injury and illness in the US is at least $250 billion (£160bn) is actually an underestimate of the true costs, government workplace health researchers have revealed. 5,500 workers a year die from work-related injuries or sickness.

In Canada since 2000 there has been approximately 10,000 who have died because employers have failed to keep their work-places safe.

Globally more than 2 million die each year from occupational injuries or illnesses. Hazardous substances kill 440,000 a year and asbestos alone claims 100,000 lives.