Honoring fallen workers, strengthening our commitment

There are days on our calendar that call us to celebrate. And then there are days that ask something more of us — days that call us to remember, reflect, and commit ourselves to doing more and forge a better path forward. Workers Memorial Day, observed each year on April 28, is one of those days.

I think about workers like Patrick Archer — a husband and father— who hugged his wife Mary of 20 years and left home one morning expecting an ordinary day but was fatally injured while performing maintenance work on a machine. I think about my uncle, Lonny Crouch, who died in a farm incident, and how my mom carries his memory of the values he lived by and how that loss shaped my family.

They both had future plans. People who depended on them. People who loved them. But they never returned home. In an instant, everything changed. A family was left grieving, and a routine day became a permanent loss. A community was left wondering what we hear far too often: How did this happen and could it have been prevented?

On this day, we pause to honor the men and women who have been injured, fell ill, or lost their lives by simply doing their jobs. We come together not only to remember those we’ve lost, but to stand with those they left behind — the families, friends, coworkers, and communities who carry that loss every single day.

When life is lost on the job, the impact is felt far beyond the workplace. Families are left to navigate unimaginable grief, and some face not only emotional pain, but also mental and financial challenges as they try to move forward. Communities feel that absence in schools, neighborhoods, and places of worship.

We must also remember those who survived serious workplace injuries or illnesses. Their journeys are often long and difficult, marked not only by resilience, but also by real issues that affect every part of their lives and the lives of those who love them.

Over the years, America has taken important steps to improve workplace safety and health. As the nation’s 250th anniversary approaches, we recognize that while we have made significant progress, we cannot confuse that with completion. The truth is that too many workers are still not making it home at the end of the day.

And that’s something we can change.

When safety is embedded into workplace culture, and not simply treated as a box to check, we see meaningful results. That’s why each of us has a role to play. OSHA is committed to collaborating with our stakeholders and listening to employers and workers to build solutions that can help save lives.

For those who have been directly impacted — those carrying experiences of loss or injury — know that your stories matter. They remind us of what we are fighting for to improve workplace safety, and they push us to do better.

So on Workers Memorial Day, we remember. We honor. But we also act. We owe it to those we’ve lost. We owe it to their families. We owe it to the working men and women across this nation. And we owe it to the generations that will follow.

Because at the end of the day, the goal is simple: Every worker should be able to go to work, do their job, and return home safely.

David Keeling is the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. Follow OSHA on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.