ILO to mark international commemoration day for dead and injured workers

GENEVA (ILO News) - In memory of workers who die, are injured or fall ill due to unsustainable forms of production, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is to mark the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers at its headquarters here with a solemn ceremony on Friday, 27 April.

Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office (ILO), will speak on the subject of safe work, and will launch a new symbol of the ILO's campaign to raise awareness about workers' occupational health and safety. The new symbol is a ribbon that can be worn to show solidarity and awareness of the issue of safety and health at work. The ribbon will be yellow and black, the universal safety colours found on work sites and safety areas around the world.

The event will also commemorate UNHCR staff who died in East Timor last year, as well as other United Nations staff, including UN peacekeepers who have died or been injured while in service.

The day is aimed at drawing attention to the global toll of occupational health and safety. The ILO estimates that deaths caused by work-related accidents or illnesses amount to more than 1.3 million workers per year, or an average of 3,300 per day, nearly double the deaths caused by war, and more than those caused by malaria.

The ceremony will be held in the Colonnade area of the ILO headquarters building between 12:30 and 13:15 and is open to the public and media.

Speakers at the commemorative ceremony will include: Mr. Juan Somavia, Mr. Manuel Simón Velasco, Director, ILO Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV), Mr. Jean-François Retournard, Director, ILO Bureau for Employers' Activities (ACT/EMP), Mr. Dan Cuniah, Secretary, ILO Workers' Group, Ms. Adwoa Sakyi, General Agricultural Workers' Union (Ghana), Ms. Fiona Murie, Director, Health, Safety and Environment, International Federation of Building and Wood Workers (IFBWW), and Mr. Jukka Takala, Director, ILO InFocus Programme on SafeWork.

The Director-General will light a large candle in memory of dead, injured or ill workers to symbolize the ILO's involvement with a series of worldwide activities planned in some 100 countries on the day, as well as subsequent activities on 1 ^st May, the international labour day.

For more information about the commemoration, please contact the ILO Department of Communication (+41-22) 799-7912, communication@ilo.org, or Luc Demaret, Bureau for Workers' Activities (+41-22) 799-7233.