On April 28th, the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) SafeDay and the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) are running a joint campaign to highlight the critical need to improve the safety and health of young workers and end child labour – in all its forms, including hazardous work.
There are commemorative and proactive events in many organisations around the UK, and worldwide. This important day in the Health and Safety calendar has an impressive history, and has done much to improve conditions at work around the world:
- Workers’ Memorial Day originated in Canada in 1984 and is now recognised as a national day in 19 countries
- Since 1989 trade unions in the UK, USA, Asia, Europe and Africa have organised events on and around 28 April. This date was chosen for International Workers’ Memorial Day as it is the anniversary of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the USA and also commemorates the day that 28 people were killed in a construction accident in Connecticut.
- Workers’ Memorial Day has been informally recognised in the UK since 1992
- In 2001 the International Labour Organisation recognised Workers’ Memorial Day and announced April 28th as an International Day of Action for Safety and Health at Work. This is an annual international campaign to promote safe, healthy and decent work around the globe.
