In London, Workers’ Memorial Day is remembering a construction worker killed just months ago

Around the world every 28 April trade unionists, campaigners, families, and supporters gather to mark Workers’ Memorial Day (WMD), a day to remember the damage done by work and to commit to carrying on the fight against that damage and for workers’ rights. This year in Waltham Forest, one particular worker who was killed will be remembered.

Workers’ Memorial Day: remembering Ekarmajeet Singh

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that some three million women and men around the world die because of work-related accidents or diseases every year. One of those was Ekarmajeet Singh.

As My London reported:

A young man working on a building site in East London “knew he was going to die” as he lay trapped under rubble after a roof collapsed, a neighbouring resident has said. Ekarmanjeet Singh, 25, was working on a property on Pevensey Road in Forest Gate when the roof of the building collapsed, trapping him under rubble on Tuesday, December 12.

The emergency services rushed to the scene, where firefighters immediately rescued the young man from the wreckage, but he died shortly after.

The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is investigating Ekarmajeet’s death. However, it points to a larger UK and global problems.

The HSE reported that 135 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2022/3 with a worrying increase in construction deaths. However, the Hazards Campaign has shown how this statistic does not cover all work related workplace deaths – and estimate it to be nearer 1,375.

Staggering figures in the UK

The Hazards Campaign also estimates there are 52,057 deaths from work related illness every year and estimates over six million people are living with cancer, heart conditions, respiratory illness, musculoskeletal injuries, or stress, depression, or anxiety all caused by their work. They also calculate that official statistics of those who have died after catching Covid at work are a gross under-estimate.

HSE’s key figures for the UK in 2022/23 were there were 1.8 million working people suffering from a work-related illness, of which:

• 875,000 workers suffering work-related stress, depression or anxiety.
• 473,000 workers suffering from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder.

On top of all this:

• 2,268 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures in 2021.
• 561,000 working people sustained an injury at work according to the Labour Force Survey in 2023.
• 60,645 injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR in 2023.
• 35.2 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury in 2023.
• £20.7bn estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions in 2021/22.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that some three million women and men around the world die because of work-related accidents or diseases every year; this corresponds to over 8,000 deaths every single day. Worldwide, every year, there are around 374m occupational accidents, 360,000 of them fatal, and 160 million victims of work-related illnesses.

Work kills more people than war

Kevin Parslow, secretary of Waltham Forest Trades Council, said:

Around the world work kills more people than war. The greater majority of this is predictable and preventable if governments and employers acted responsibly.

Sadly we saw another worker killed in Waltham Forest last December and we will be remembering Ekarmajeet Singh in a respectful memorial event in Pevensey Rd.

We will gather with local trade unionists, many involved in strikes that have health and safety issues at their core, to recognise the damage done and to commit again to remember the dead and fight for the living.

Local MP John Cryer will attend the Pevensey Rd event.

The International Trade Union Confederation has given this year’s WMD the theme of working in a changing climate. Trade union climate activist Sam Mason said:

Climate change is becoming an urgent health issue for workers, threatening safe and decent working conditions. Whether from heat stress, fire, air pollution or flooding, we urgently need employers to understand these impacts and work with unions to develop working practices to safeguard workers health, jobs, and incomes

Featured image via Waltham Forest Trades Council