Each year, the families and friends of fallen workers, and organizations, including the U.S. Department of Labor and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration sadly observe April 28 as Workers Memorial Day.

Let us step back and reflect on the sweat, blood and tears that built this great nation. Think about the men and women that gave their lives. Labor Day is the day for us to remember these great workers. We should celebrate their lives, accomplishments, learn from their mistakes, and hold them in great regard every day of the year.

Workers' Memorial Day, International Workers 'Memorial Day or International Commemoration Day (ICD) for Dead and Injured or Day of Mourning takes place annually around the world on April 28, an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. 

The annual commemoration of those killed on the job is fast approaching, and a variety of organizations are getting ready to hold solemn events on April 28. While Workers’ Memorial Day is observed around the globe, this will be its 25^th anniversary in the United States.

...Sadly, we have more to reflect on this year than we would have liked. Our hearts go out to the families who lost loved ones in the April 17 fertilizer plant fire and explosion in West, Texas. Among the 14 dead and approximately 200 wounded were heroic paramedics and firefighters, and plant workers who - in a scene reminiscent of 9/11 — rushed toward the fire, desperately trying to cool the fire to give time to warn and evacuate residents.

The reintroduction of a bill that would strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) is being hailed as a necessary step for protecting U.S. workers by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH).

At a construction site in New Jersey, a train depot in Illinois, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York and other locations in the U.S., Canada and hundreds of other countries, ceremonies will be held in late April and early May to commemorate Worker’s Memorial Day 2013 (in Canada it’s known as Workers’ Day of Mourning).