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It was great to see some press coverage of the events marking International Worker's Memorial Day. All too often the number of lives work accidents claim is underreported by news outlets across the UK.
Unfortunately, though I have participated on three occasions in the past once in India, once in the UK and another time in Australia a busy schedule meant I was unable to attend any official commemorations this year. However, in a small compensation for our absence from this year's events some of my colleagues and I tried to do our bit by circulating an awareness-raising email among our respective friends and family.
I received many responses to this email from people who were simply shocked to learn just how many lives work accidents claim across the world.
Last year alone, work accidents claimed the lives of 2 million people on the planet. Further to that, 400 million people suffered often serious work injuries.
These figures are startling and left many of my friends replying in concern and disbelief.
Two million people each year dying in fatal work accidents is analogous to losing the population of Greater Manchester each year to negligence and misfortune. It helps give some idea of just how many lives work accidents claim globally.
It is some feat that, following a century which saw unprecedented global carnage, it is still the truth that throughout history work accidents claim more lives than wars.
Doug Cameron, secretary of the Australian Manual Workers Union said of the latest figures, "Most do not die of mystery ailments, or in tragic accidents'. They die because their employer decided that their safety just was not that important a priority. It's a staggering and shameful amount of deaths."
As usual, International Worker's Memorial Day went someway to mobilizing concerns and anger at the number of lives work accidents claim around the world. It is hoped some of the press and pressure surrounding the day will encourage employers and governments to do more to ensure work accidents claim as few lives as possible.
Events were held in well over fifty countries to commemorate those who've been involved in fatal work accidents. Many of the official get-togethers were also in aid and recognition of the families left behind by those who've lost their lives in work accidents.
In the UK, there were events organized by the Trade Union Congress, UNISON and the CWU. Also, Hazards launched a range of activities and media designed to raise awareness of the number of casualties work accidents claim.
Events were also held in many Asian and African countries where work accidents claim lives at a tragic and astonishing rate. It is estimated that at present work accidents claim 5,000 lives across the world each day.
But it is not only in developing countries that workers lose their lives and suffer serious personal injuries in work accidents. Britain too, just like the rest of developed world, can do more to reduce the numbers of deaths and injuries claimed by work accidents.
Events were also held in the USA. A friend of mine who replied to my email from New York informed me that events were being held there. It is worth publishing some of it in these pages:
"In a modern, industrialized and democratic America it sure can make some people feel uncomfortable to learn that accidents at work claim the lives of 56,000 American's every year. 56,000!
"We also have a further 6 million Americans suffering work injuries each year that's enough to fill a major national capital city."
He went on to argue that, although the situation in developed countries like the US and UK is still completely unacceptable, at least we have strong laws regarding health and safety. He also mentioned that in developing countries those and the families of those who suffer in work accidents often have limited access to work accident compensation.
Lives are claimed at the highest rates by work accidents in the construction, chemical, factory, fishing and mining sectors. Road accidents involving people driving in a working capacity are also disturbingly common.
It is true that for many of the world's workers making a work accident claim is often a very difficult process. In the UK, we are fortunate enough to have access to free legal representation in the form of no win, no fee solicitors. In many other countries, however, there is simply not the infrastructure necessary to support the work accident claim process.
So, for those of you for who International Worker's Memorial Day passed unnoticed, keep an eye out for it on April 28 next year and think about what you can do to make a difference to the number of lives work accidents claim.
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