Each year on April 28, workers and trade unions around the world observe International Workers’ Memorial Day. The commemoration began in 1989 as a way to remember those who have died in work-related accidents.

The date is significant to workers in the United States because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, but the date coincides with a similar remembrance in Canada. The Canadian Public Service Union originally declared April 28 to be an annual day of remembrance in 1985. In 1991, their Parliament declared it as an official day of mourning.

The day is observed in a munber of ways, but events are usually focused on the need to improve health and safety in the workplace and the preventable nature of workplace accidents. Activities may include campaigning, workplace awareness events, speeches and religious services, laying wreathes, planting trees, unveiling monuments and laying out empty shoes to represent those who have died at work.

For four years — 1995 to 1999 — the FIGHT Project (Families in Grief Hold Together), founded by local activist Ron Hayes — hosted “Trail of Tears,” a memorial service held in Fairhope on Workers’ Memorial Day. This was Alabama’s only known observance. But an increase in travel and speaking engagements forced Hayes to scale back his activities, and he no longer hosts the service.

This year, in addition to speaking at universities and companies across the South, Hayes is distributing free safety booklets to the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce and six First Gulf Bank branches in Baldwin County. Titles include “Confined Space Safety,” “Personal Protective Equipment” and “Stairways and Ladders,” and each one is clearly illustrated and designed to be easy to read.

Hayes said he hopes the books will land in the hands of laborers and tradesman who may not have direct access to safety training.

The books also lists a number to call for additional information on training and safety in the workplace.