    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 124, 111th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    PROCLAMATION 8507--APR. 28, 2010

    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 on-the-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

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    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.
    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.
    BARACK OBAMA