Workers Memorial Day: Honor our fallen workers by doing your part to protect others

Federal safety inspectors recently found Pepsi Guam Bottling jeopardized the safety of their employees by disabling safety devices to allow workers to reach into a bottle-labeling machine as often as 15 times an hour to grab and fix labels and adjust tipping bottles to avoid slowing or stopping production.

Our investigation determined Pepsi Guam Bottling exposed employees to amputation and other serious injuries by leaving the machine’s guard doors open and permitting a safety proximity switch to be deactivated. The company failed to protect workers.

Sadly, employee exposures to unguarded or inadequately guarded machinery and equipment occur in many workplaces. And workplace deaths are all-too-common.

In 2021, 5,190 workers died on the job in the United States. Each day, 14 people suffer work-related deaths.

These numbers remind us of the dangers many workers face. Behind these numbers, there are people who mourn each loss. For them, these statistics are loved ones: they’re parents, children, siblings, relatives, friends, or co-workers.

For those left behind, the day their loved one was lost becomes a sad remembrance. Graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special times are forever tainted.

To pay tribute to those whose jobs claimed their lives, April 28 is Workers Memorial Day. This is an opportunity for us to pause and remember all those who suffered work-related injuries and illnesses. This remembrance also recognizes the grief that survivors face in the days, months, and years after.

Workers Memorial Day also reminds us that more must be done to prevent workplace deaths and injuries. For those of us at the U.S. Department of Labor and, specifically, its Occupational Safety and Health Administration, this annual commemoration reinforces our commitment to developing and enforcing standards and initiatives to safeguard workers and guide employers as they work to provide safe workplaces.

Remember, we all have a role to play in making sure our workplaces do not endanger our safety and health. If you see people exposed to workplace dangers, don’t ignore your concerns. Alert the employer or contact your local OSHA office or law enforcement agency. Demand that the stores you frequent, the companies that get your business, and those you hire don’t endanger the people they employ. If they won’t, take your business to those who respect their workers’ rights to a safe and healthy workplace, and who don’t put profit ahead of the lives of the people who help them earn it.
On Workers Memorial Day 2023, let’s remember those who didn’t return home after work and commit ourselves to making sure that no one is forced to trade their life for a paycheck.

Roger Forstner is area director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – Honolulu