[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 124, 111th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 8507--APR. 28, 2010

Proclamation 8507 of April 28, 2010
Workers Memorial Day, 2010
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

This year marks the 40th anniversary of both the Occupational Safety and
Health Act and the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, which
promise American workers the right to a safe workplace and require
employers to provide safe conditions. Yet, today, we remain too far from
fulfilling that promise. On Workers Memorial Day, we remember all those
who have died, been injured, or become sick on the job, and we renew our
commitment to ensure the safety of American workers.
The families of the 29 coal miners who lost their lives on April 5 in an
explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia are in our
thoughts and prayers. We also mourn the loss of 7 workers who died in a
refinery explosion in Washington State just days earlier, the 4 workers
who died at a power plant in Connecticut earlier this year, and the 11
workers lost in the oil platform explosion off the coast of Louisiana
just last week.
Although these large-scale tragedies are appalling, most workplace
deaths result from tragedies that claim one life at a time through
preventable incidents or disabling disease. Every day, 14 workers are
killed in on-the-job incidents, while thousands die each year of work-
related disease, and millions are injured or contract an illness. Most
die far from the spotlight, unrecognized and unnoticed by all but their
families, friends, and co-workers--but they are not forgotten.
The legal right to a safe workplace was won only after countless lives
had been lost over decades in workplaces across America, and after a
long and bitter fight waged by workers, unions, and public health
advocates. Much remains to be done, and my Administration is dedicated
to renewing our Nation's commitment to achieve safe working conditions
for all American workers.
Providing safer work environments will take the concerted action of
government, businesses, employer associations, unions, community
organizations, the scientific and public health communities, and
individuals. Today, as we mourn those lost mere weeks ago in the Upper
Big Branch Mine and other recent disasters, so do we honor all the men
and women who have died on the job. In their memory, we rededicate

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ourselves to preventing such tragedies, and to securing a safer
workplace for every American.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 28, 2010, as
Workers Memorial Day. I call upon all Americans to participate in
ceremonies and activities in memory of those who have been killed due to
unsafe working conditions.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day
of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
fourth.
BARACK OBAMA