Remembering fallen workers

28 April 2009

Thousands of Western Australian workers are expected to attend a memorial
service this morning to commemorate people who have been injured or killed
at work.

Organised by Unions WA, the international commemoration day is designed
to pay tribute to the 20 workers who die on average per year on worksites in WA.
The service will be held at Solidarity Park in West Perth, with members of
the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) expected to
walk off work sites in order to attend.

Western Australia has far too many work related deaths and a change of
attitude is needed in order to prevent them, Unions WA spokeswoman Simone
McGurk said.“There needs to be a culture at work where there’s a zero
tolerance to any injury, let alone deaths,” she said.“Over about the last
10 to 20 years on average 20 people have died on WA workplaces each year.
“So far this year we have had about 5 die which means we are on track to
keep our record which is not good.”