In the wake of a fire this week in a Manila shoe factory that killed 72 workers, the Philippine government is considering criminalizing some occupational safety and health and building code violations.

Whether you call it “Workers’ Memorial Day” or “World Day for Safety and Health at Work,” today’s focus is the same: improving conditions for workers so that injuries and illnesses are prevented and lives are saved.

International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Guy Ryder: The news is punctuated periodically by intense coverage of dramatic, heartbreaking stories that capture global attention: health workers infected while caring for patients with deadly diseases, trapped miners who may or may not resurface, factory building collapses, plane crashes, explosions of oil rigs and nuclear accidents.

At the first All-Russian OSH Week last week, nearly 3,000 occupational safety and health practitioners, experts, scientists and private sector representatives from Russia and abroad discussed new trends and prospects for promoting safety and health at work, ensuring safe working conditions and protecting workers’ health.

With the safe use of chemicals at work designated as the theme for this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work (Workers’ Memorial Day in the U.S. and Canada), the International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued a report on steps that can be taken to safeguard workers from toxic hazards.

With the death toll now exceeding 350, the collapse last week of a factory building in Bangladesh helps focus attention on International Workers’ Day – May 1 -- as well as Workers’ Memorial Day and National Day of Mourning (in Canada), both of which were yesterday but continue to be observed in ceremonies this week.