World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a day created to emphasize the importance of preventing accidents and diseases in the workplace. This holiday aims to raise awareness about these issues, so that workplace-related accidents, injuries, and diseases can be reduced.

This day falls on the 28th of April annually and is promoted by the United Nations, International Labour Organization, as well as individuals, communities, work-safety organizations, and governmental bodies.

The History of World Day for Safety and Health at Work

The day was established when the International Labour Organization began to observe World Day to stress the prevention of diseases and accidents at workplaces in 2003. It was part of the organization’s strategy on occupational safety and health worldwide.

The intention of the holiday is to focus international attention on the problem of disease and accidents in the workplace to ensure that we can all work towards safer working conditions for all workers, regardless of where they are in the world.

Facts About Workplace Safety

As we delved into the details of this holiday, we realized that workplace safety is a significant issue that needs immediate attention. To illustrate this point, we’ve listed some facts about workplace safety below. We believe these facts highlight the importance of this holiday.

• Every year, over 2 million people die from work-related diseases.
• Over 320,000 people die annually from occupational accidents.
• Over 160 million workers suffer from a non-fatal work-related disease each year.
• Over 317 million workers suffer from non-fatal accidents every year.
• Every 15 seconds, over 150 workers have a work-related accident.
• Every 15 seconds, a worker dies from a work-related disease.
• Approximately 66% of all work-related deaths occur in Asia.
• In the European Union in 2015, there were over 3,000 work-related fatalities.

Observing World Day for Safety and Health at Work

This is a day for organizational representatives and community leaders to promote this holiday and focus attention on workplace safety. On this day, media outlets around the world also try to raise awareness about this issue, and private organizations concerned with workplace safety make efforts to do the same.

People can also use the hashtag #WorldSafetyAndHealthDay to spread the word about it on the internet. If we all work together, then workplace conditions can be improved worldwide, and no worker will have to worry about risking their life or health to earn a living.