Workers’ Memorial Day for Ireland to take place on Thursday 28th April 2016
Congress, Ibec, CIF and HSA promote national day of remembrance for workers killed or injured
Businesses, organisations and workers everywhere invited to mark Workers’ Memorial Day Ireland on 28th April 2015
Monday 4th April 2016 - Workers’ Memorial Day will be formally observed in Ireland on Thursday 28th April 2016 at a special ceremony involving the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Congress), Ibec, the Construction Industry Federation and the Health and Safety Authority. Workers, businesses, organisations and communities everywhere nationwide are invited to mark Workers’ Memorial Day Ireland on that date.
April 28th is the date every year when trade union and employer groups worldwide, as well as individual organisations, remember people killed or injured in work-related accidents. Workers’ Memorial Day Ireland remembers workers lost and injured and highlights 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.
This year’s event will take place at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Ely Place, Dublin 2 at 9.00 am on Thursday 28th April. Congress will be represented by General Secretary Patricia King; the CIF by Director General Tom Parlon; Ibec by CEO Danny McCoy and the HSA by Brian Higgisson, Assistant CEO. The four organisations sent a jointly signed letter to their members and contacts nationwide encouraging participation and support.
Martin O’Halloran, CEO, the Health and Safety Authority said, “One work-related death or accident is one too many. Workers Memorial Day on April 28th 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 wellbeing in our working lives.”
In Ireland in the ten year period between 2006 and 2015, 526 people were killed in work-related accidents and many thousands more severely injured. Last year alone, 56 people were killed. These are unacceptable figures which can be reduced through a combined and intensified effort by everyone in workplaces everywhere.
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