Workers’ Memorial Day for Ireland
Congress, Ibec, CIF and HSA promote national day of remembrance for workers killed or injured
WORKERS’ Memorial Day will be formally observed in Ireland on Thursday 28April 2016 at a special ceremony involving the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Congress), Ibec (the voice of business in Ireland), the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
Highlighting the importance of health, safety and welfare at work, the theme of the commemorative event is ‘Remembering the past for a safe and healthy future’. Workers, businesses, organizations and communities across Ireland are invited to mark Workers’ Memorial Day on that date, to remember people killed or injured in work-related accidents.
This year’s event will take place at the Royal Hibernian Academy, in Dublin, with Congress represented by General Secretary Patricia King; the CIF by director general Tom Parlon; Ibec by chief executive officer Danny McCoy; and the HSA by assistant chief executive officer Brian Higgisson.
Martin O’Halloran, chief executive officer of the HSA, said: ‘One work-related death or accident is one too many. Workers Memorial Day provides an important opportunity to remember and to consolidate everyone’s focus around a single day. This year we hope to build on the success of last year’s event.
‘Together with Congress, the CIF and Ibec, we’re working to involve more workplaces, employers and workers in this year’s event. It’s only by working together for this common good that we’ll see a significant drop in these horrific numbers, and we all have a responsibility to make sure that happens.
‘In setting this agenda, we remember workers lost or injured and people who have been bereaved. Everyone is entitled to a safe working environment and to return home unharmed each day. We must all remember that and renew our commitment to safety and well-being in our working lives.’
In Ireland, in the 10-year period between 2006 and 2015, a total of 526 people were killed in work-related accidents and many thousands more severely injured. Last year alone, 56 people were killed.
