Every year, more than 5,000 American workers and approximately 1,000 Canadian workers die in work-related incidents. On April 28, the International Day of Mourning, pay your respects to your fellow workers who were injured or killed on the job.

In the U.S., an average of 16 workers die each day from injuries received at work, and 134 are estimated to die from work-related diseases. And approximately 9,000 American workers are treated in emergency wards each day because of occupational injuries.

The International Day of Mourning is set aside not only to commemorate the dead, ill and injured, but also to raise awareness of the importance of occupational health and safety and its role in preventing these needless tragedies.

The day of remembrance was initially launched by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1984 and officially established as the National Day of Mourning in 1990 after the Canadian government passed the Workers’ Mourning Day Act.

In the U.S., the AFL-CIO, America’s union movement, adopted April 28 as Workers’ Memorial Day. And in 1996, the International Confederation of Free Trade organized the first International Day of Mourning, which prompted candle lighting ceremonies to protest unsafe work practices.

Today, more than 85 countries worldwide recognize this important day.