MADISON, Wis – The Construction Business Group and Wisconsin Building Trades Council are holding the 7th Annual Construction Workers’ Memorial Service on April 27th in Madison. Members of the community are invited to join in the event paying tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in construction work accidents in Wisconsin. Four construction workers who died this past year due to work-related injuries will be honored at this year’s event.
The Madison event is part of the internationally recognized Workers’ Memorial Day to honor those that were lost in work-related incidents or diseases caused by work. The event will begin at 3:30pm with a Hard Hat Processional from the Monona Terrace ending six blocks away at St. Patrick’s Church where the service will be held beginning at 4pm.
“While worker safety has advanced greatly over the last 50 years, every year thousands of our brothers and sisters lose their lives while working to build and advance our nation,” said Emily Pritzkow, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council. “It’s imperative for all of us to not only remember those we have lost but to work towards a day when every worker goes home after every shift.”
The construction industry is typically one of the most impacted by workplace fatalities. In 2021 alone, there were 2,474 fatal work injuries in transportation and the construction occupations.
“On this day of remembrance, we not only pay tribute to those we have lost, but also use this as an opportunity to recommit ourselves, both as members of management and labor, to continue to work to enhance the safety of our state’s jobsites,” added Robb Kahl, Executive Director of the Construction Business Group.
Marking the annual anniversary of the creation of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Workers’ Memorial Day recognizes that despite advances in health and safety standards and enforcement, since OSHA’s inception in 1970, on average 15 workers per day are killed while at work. In fact, in 2021 alone, 5,190 U.S. workers died in at their place of work, with 105 of those deaths being Wisconsinites.
Construction Workers’ Memorial Service
Thursday, April 27th, 2023 – 4:00 p.m.
St. Patrick’s Church, 404 E. Main Street, Madison WI
A Hard Hat Processional from the Monona Terrance to St. Patrick’s Church will occur immediately before the Memorial Service with line-up at 3:30pm.
