Remembering all the workers who lost their lives or were injured in the workplace

There was a warning too, 40 years on from the devastation of mining communities, that the same fate could befall Grangemouth if the Ineos refinery closes before plans for a fair transition for the thousands of workers and contractors involved with the plant is not in place.

The ceremony is organised each year by Falkirk Trades Union Council. This year it focussed on the impacts of climate change on workers.

Provost Robert Bassett reminded those gathered that globally that of more than 2.8 million deaths each year 380,000 are fatal accidents and 2.4 million the result of occupational diseases such as cancer.

In the year 2022/23 135 workers were killed in the UK, 12 more than the year before.

He said: “Clearly climate change will require a review of policies to protect workers. Every year more people are killed at work than in wars. They die because an employer decided their safety just wasn’t a priority.”

Provost Bissett added that we are seeing hotter and drier summers and more intense heatwaves are expected. According to UK Climate Risk, heat-related deaths in Scotland will rise to between 70- 85 per year by 2050 and 140-390 per year by 2080.

Flooding and road accidents caused by heavy rain will increase as well as land slips and the risk of disease because of sewage in floodwater.

He went on: “We must reflect and organise to make the workplace safer for everyone.

Councillor Gary Bouse said when he began work in the construction industry 40 years ago it was not unusual to hear of the deaths of tradespeople but education and understanding had changed this and health and safety was no longer seen as a barrier to getting the job done.

He added: “Current risk and method statements take account of cold temperatures, wet conditions and dusty conditions. But the effects of heat are still seen in a positive light and the effects of severe heat tend to be reacted to as they happen rather than planned.”

Brian Leishman, Labour candidate for Alloa and Grangemouth in the next general election, said: “Changing weather patterns induce fatigue, increasing the chances of injury or stress related illness. But we should feel pride the trade union movement has been the most effective vehicle for achieving good health and safety. Everyone knows organised workplaces are safer workplaces.”

He went on: “We are all too familiar with workplaces, workers and communities being treated as nothing more than disposable commodities. Forty years have passed since mining communities were devastated. Today we are only a few miles away from the cooling towers and chimney stacks of the Grangemouth refinery where history is threatening to be repeated and workers, their communities and an entire industry is under threat.

“This crisis is an age old story of insatiable greed over community welfare”