April 28th, Workers’ Memorial Day, serves as a time to remember and honor workers who were killed, disabled, injured, or made unwell by their work.
This day of remembrance and mourning weighs especially heavy on those of us who work at Industrial Scientific because of the company’s dedication to preserving life. “Workers’ Memorial Day is a reminder to us at Industrial Scientific that our work is far from done,” said Parker Burke, President of Industrial Scientific. “We won’t rest until there is no death on the job.”
In 2020 alone, 4,764 workers were fatally injured on the job in the United States and never returned home to their families and loved ones, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each year around the world, 2.3 million people suffer from work-related accidents or diseases (International Labour Organization). Exposure to hazardous substances, like toxic gases, accounts for a large portion of these losses. This risk, among many other incidents and exposures, is completely preventable. No one should ever lose their life to an occupational accident.
Industrial Scientific has come a long way in making workplaces around the world safer, and our team is determined to continue working toward a vision of eliminating death on the job by 2050.
Our Vision to eliminate death on the job by the year 2050 is tangible and encourages us to make bolder decisions, adapt to evolving needs, find new ways to tackle old problems, and get to the root of workplace incidents. It illustrates in words what our people already know: there’s an urgency to what we do because workers around the world are trusting us with their lives. “The impact that we’re striving to deliver can’t be a subsequent generation’s responsibility, it must be our responsibility,” said Burke.
Since its founding 37 years ago, Industrial Scientific has led the gas detection industry with the mission to help workers come home safely each night, no matter where they work—on, above, or below the Earth. Our people work diligently to improve safety outcomes by equipping workers with the right gas monitors for the job, making sure they work, and providing tools to see that they are using safety products properly. The company is continually expanding its benefits beyond gas detection to stay ahead of other workplace hazards. For example, man-down alerts that sense when a worker halts movement out on the field and advanced analytics that help safety and operations leaders identify and address site maintenance issues.
Our products and solutions serve people around the world in many different roles and have a direct impact on their livelihood and wellbeing—it’s our responsibility and commitment to prevent the loss of life that we recognize every Workers’ Memorial Day for every worker who depends on us, day after day. When a worker picks up a gas monitor at the beginning of their shift or a safety manager logs into connected monitoring software, they count on the tool to do its job to keep them safe, no questions asked.
We find our greatest joy in serving others and are eager to persevere in our work towards better solutions for those who trust us with their lives, both on the worksite and in their communities. It drives the work we do every day. Burke and the Industrial Scientific team humbly acknowledge that we can continue to improve and strive for the best solution in our fight to eliminate death on the job: “Our team will continue to innovate and push boundaries until we know that every worker is safe on the job, and we’re not going to give up until we do.”
“Ultimately, our goal is to prevent the need for a Workers’ Memorial Day at all,” said Burke. Until then, Industrial Scientific turns its thoughts to those who have lost their lives or loved ones to a workplace incident or illness.
