A crowd gathered in front of Sheffield’s Town Hall to honour those who died on the job on Monday, for an annual tribute.

Around 18,000 workers each year are killed or seriously injured at work, and the number is not falling, while prosecutions and inspections falter, according to trade unions.

The day allows workers to remember those who have died, commemorating them through their motto; “remember the dead, fight for the living”. 

Attendee and student Ciaran Wakefield said:“ It’s important that we spend time to remember those that died at work, and those workers that face a lack of dignity in old age or disabilities.” 

A number of volunteers spoke out on the difficulties and dangers people face in the workplace, and at the end, unions donated wreaths, which they placed on a tree right next to the Town Hall. 

One of the speakers, Mesa, from Health Workers for Palestine, spoke out on the dangers that everyday workers face due to the war. 

She said, “These workers were not soldiers. They were healers, caregivers, life savers; they died because even in war, the rights of workers are supposed to be protected, but were closely ignored.”

A teacher at the University of Sheffield, Samuel Morecroft said; “They are deaths that happen which are not tragedies, they are not accidents, they are deaths which happen because workers don’t have the right protective equipment, are sent into work in dangerous conditions.”