Once again, we approach a day of remembrance for those who have died in Oregon workplaces. Each year, as Workers Memorial Day approaches, I find myself frustrated by the continued – and unnecessary – loss of life.

There is good news, of course. The list of names that we will read on April 28 is considerably shorter than it would have been a decade ago, and almost half the size of the lists we were reading in the 1980s. But that’s little comfort to those who will hear the name of a loved one – a friend, a co-worker, a family member – and we must never forget that each of those names is an individual tragedy.

With support from organizations such as Oregon OSHA, employers and workers have worked hard to decrease the workplace risks that we face every day. But there are still too many risks in the workplace. We have had too many recent reminders, including one at a Washington refinery and another at a West Virginia coal mine, that multiple workers can be killed in just one incident. Oregon does not have petroleum refineries or deep-shaft coal mines. But workplaces throughout the state are at risk of a fire, an explosion or the release of a dangerous chemical. Any one of those events could cost multiple workers their lives.

Oregon has workplaces where employees must enter confined spaces, must work high off the ground, and must work around dangerous machinery when not properly shut down and secured. Oregon has workers who operate hazardous logging, construction and agriculture equipment. And Oregon has workers who spend a good deal of their time driving on our roads and highways. These are just some of the risks faced by Oregon workers every day. And, in every case, the deaths that arise out of these situations are deaths that could have been prevented.

A death in the workplace is always a death that comes too soon. It is a story that is cut short, and each loss represents the loss of dreams for the future. It is a story of family, friends and co-workers who face the loss and ask questions for which there are no easy answers.

Workers Memorial Day is a day to remember those we have lost. But it is also a day to remember that the fight is not over, and to rededicate ourselves to controlling and eliminating the workplace conditions that put our friends and family at risk of serious injury, illness and death. It is a day to grieve, and to look toward the past. But it also is a day to look toward the future, and to declare: “We can do better!”

Michael Wood is a certified safety professional and the administrator of Oregon OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. Contact him at michael.wood@state.or.us.

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Each year, on April 28, many of us involved in workplace health and safety recognize Workers Memorial Day. This year’s ceremony on Salem’s Capitol Mall also will see the dedication of the new Fallen Workers Memorial, made possible by private donations through the Oregon AFL-CIO.

Workers, employers and government have made the Oregon approach to workplace health and safety a success, although the job is far from done. Working together, we can bring hazards under control, eliminate unneeded risks, and make our workplaces the safest in the nation. But behind each of the strategies, programs and initiatives are the stories of individuals.

As Workers Memorial Day approaches, please take a moment to consider those Oregon workers who have lost their lives on the job. For those families, friends and coworkers, it is not a matter of statistics. What matters is what happens when a life ends prematurely – a parent doesn’t get to see children grow up, a child doesn’t get to grow up to raise a family, a longtime worker doesn’t get to retire, a young person doesn’t get to live out dreams. Each fallen worker was an individual, whose achievements, joys and griefs have all been cut short.

Life ends before it should have.

As we remember those lost in the workplace, and as we grieve, we cannot allow ourselves to be defeated. Working together, we have the ability and the tools to make that list shorter. Can we ever completely solve the problem? Perhaps not. But that doesn’t really matter, because it is a story of individuals, not statistics.

A story is told of a young boy walking along the beach after a storm, tossing stranded starfish back into the waves before they could dry out and die. An old adult asks him why he bothers, considering that they could see hundreds, perhaps thousands, of stranded starfish on the beach. “What difference can you make? How can what you’re doing really matter?” the adult asked the boy. The boy hesitated just a moment to think. Then he picked up another starfish, flung it into the waves, and said quietly, “It matters to that one.”

The lives whose loss we commemorate each year were individuals, each with their own stories. And the lives saved yesterday, and last week, and last month – as well as those saved tomorrow, and next week, and next year – are individual victories. We remember and mourn yesterday’s losses, but we must also fight for tomorrow’s victories.

That challenge remains alive this year, when the Fallen Workers Memorial will be unveiled. The memorial includes a plaque mounted on a stone, acknowledging those Oregon workers who have lost their lives on the job. But the memorial also includes living plants, which offer their own promise and hope for the future.

The memorial reminds us that the best way to remember those who have died on the job is to work to make a better future, where such tragedies are far less likely. The most fitting response to those tragedies is a call to action. And the most meaningful memorial is ultimately not found in the physical memorial, or in the Workers Memorial Day ceremony itself, but in a genuine commitment to improve.

We have much to be proud of here in Oregon. 

But we can do better.

Whatever your workplace, whatever your role, whatever risks you may face, please join me in accepting that challenge as we acknowledge Workers Memorial Day.

Michael Wood is a certified safety professional and the administrator of Oregon OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.

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