Workers Memorial Day gives the opportunity to highlight the preventable causes of most workplace incidents, ill health and to promote campaigns and union organisations in the fight for improvements in workplace safety. It is also commemorated throughout the world and is officially recognised by the UK government.
Each year the Trades Union Congress (TUC) decides on a theme for Workers Memorial Day, this year it is ‘Trades Unions Organising for Fundamental Safety.’
In 1989, Workers Memorial Day was declared on 28 April by the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO). In the UK, Workers Memorial Day has been supported by the Hazards Campaign, and trade unions including the STUC, the TUC, and the Health and Safety Executive.
In 2001, Workers Memorial Day was recognised by International Labour Organisation (ILO). The following year it was announced that 28 April should be an official day in the UN system, and it is now an international day of remembrance.
Workers Memorial Day highlights the necessary need for health and safety improvements in the workplace which the PDA has been campaigning about with ongoing initiatives such as the Safer Pharmacies Charter and Violence in Pharmacy activity.
Support Workers Memorial Day
This year, the PDA will be formally represented at events in Milton Keynes and Glasgow to mark Workers Memorial Day. However, other PDA members can also take part in Workers Memorial Day by attending local events or by participating in related activities that are taking place on 28 April. This will help to show support and help raise awareness around issues of health and safety. For more information, visit the TUC website here.
Pharmacists may also want to wear a purple ribbon to demonstrate their support for International Workers Memorial Day. Pictured is Taiwo Owatemi MP, who is also a practising NHS pharmacist, who was proudly wearing her IWMD purple ribbon in parliament.
Get involved
Learn more
- Hazards Campaign
- About the STUC
- TUC: Trades Union Congress
- Health and Safety Executive
- Safer Pharmacies Charter
- Violence In Pharmacy campaign
- WMD Reminding everyone why safety at work is so important
- “Remember the Dead” and “Fight for the Living”
Not yet a PDA member?
If you have not yet joined the PDA, we encourage you to join today and ask your colleagues to do the same.
Membership is FREE to pharmacy students, trainee pharmacists, and for the first three months of being newly qualified.
Read about our key member benefits here.