Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 85 / Tuesday, May 4, 2010 / Presidential Documents 23561 

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 onthe-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 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. 


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23562 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 85 / Tuesday, May 4, 2010 / Presidential Documents 

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. 

[FR Doc. 2010–10574 

Filed 5–3–10; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3195–W0–P 


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