Remember workers

Each year on April 28, we observe Workers Memorial Day in honor of those taken from us by workplace tragedies. Each is someone’s child, spouse, parent, sibling, friend or co-worker. Their absences permanently scar families and diminish our communities.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports work-related injuries cost the lives of 5,486 U.S. workers in 2022, the most recent year for which data are available. Of those, 75 died here in Arkansas. On average, more than once each week, a worker’s family, friends and neighbors will learn someone dear to them won’t be coming home from work.

Tragically, most or all of these deaths could have been prevented. Employers who make safety and health a core workplace value, and go beyond the minimum safety standards, better protect their workers from hazards. When proper control measures are in place and safety and health is a priority, workers are in fact safer and feel safer in their workplaces. Most importantly, fewer workers suffer fatal injuries. As we say at the Labor Department, good jobs change lives. And good jobs are safe jobs.

Workers Memorial Day allows us to remember the fallen workers in our communities and across the nation. Please take time to reflect on the loss their families endure every single day. Make this an opportunity to consider their deaths’ effects on our communities. And recommit to demanding employers fulfill their moral and legal obligations to protect workers.

Finally, think about what you can do to make your workplace safer. If you work in a hazardous workplace and have safety concerns, speak to your supervisor and encourage others in similar situations to do the same. Our fallen workers deserve no less.

Workplace safety is never a privilege, it is a right that should be enjoyed by every U.S. worker.

KIA McCULLOUGH

Little Rock Kia McCullough is the Little Rock Area Director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.