Labourer Andrew Herbertson, 29, from Failsworth, fell as he tried to dismantle a printing press in Oldham in 1998.
Linzi Herbertson, 38, has worked tirelessly to call for better workplace health and safety legislation since her husband’s death at Chadwicks Printers.
She helped form Families Against Corporate Killers, a national campaigning group aiming to stop preventable deaths in the workplace.
Mrs Herberston was due to address crowds at Albert Square in Manchester city centre today – International Workers’ Memorial Day.
She said: “Everyone should be able to go to work and come home at the end of the shift unharmed.
“This year we must fight harder as the protection of workers is under attack as never before from deregulation reviews, cuts in enforcement and people rubbishing it as nonsense.
“We are told our health and safety costs employers too much and it stops jobs being created.
“This is not true and all the evidence shows it is poor health and safety that costs lives and health and also costs all of us more money than we can afford.
“Regulations don’t kill jobs but lack of regulation and enforcement kills workers.”
Mrs Herberston was being joined by a host of guest speakers – and relatives of those who have died at work.
They include Manchester Central MP Tony Lloyd and Kevin Brown, regional secretary of the Fire Brigades Union. Local authority union representatives will also be present.
They are marching from Manchester Mechanics’ Institute on Princess Street to Albert Square from 11.15am.
The Albert Square rally was taking place at noon, including a minute’s silence for those who have died at work.
The day, which has been recognised by the government, will also be marked with events in Bolton.
Figures show that some 1,700 people are killed in work-related incidents in Britain each year and up to 50,000 by work-related illness – including 18,000 from occupational cancers.
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Scaffolder Edward Arthur, 21, sustained a shoulder injury while at work just days before he was due to face Sam Creasy in his first semi-professional fight.
Edward, who trains under Hemel Martial Arts founder Denniston Sutherland, is the latest promising fighter to emerge from the club and make his mark in the world of martial arts.
His last bout, held in March, saw him defeat Leroy Dex in an amateur class fight held in Slough.
Pyeroy was founded in 1973 as a protective coatings company, but diversified in the mid nineties after a large amount of key north east ship yards closed.
The company now providing specialist scaffolding, asbestos handling and industrial painting services that are being used currently as Pyeroy are responsible for painting the Forth Rail Bridge.
Pyeroy last year had a number of profitable contracts, including £14m of new work within its industrial services sector.
Also work on a £3m contract at Rio Tinto Alcan’s Lynemouth site to install access scaffolding and cleaning of its coal fired power station is now complete.
The managing director of Pyeroy Hugh Pelham said
“This is a good set of results despite the continuing economic pressures and we are well- placed to see strong growth continue well into the future.
“Our strategy of focusing on providing added value solutions is clearly succeeding and paying dividends as we have continued to win major work across the board cementing our position as a leading provider of specialist industrial services.”
Pelham also said: “We now have in place a highly-skilled and motivated workforce, which together with a continued focus on delivering quality, is seeing us emerge strongly from the some of the worst trading conditions for decades.”
Harsco received the award in recognition of its work on the Heron Tower project in London, which included the development and installation of Europe’s tallest ‘double-decker,’ and the UK’s highest ever, Mast Climbing Work Platform (MCWP).
The IAPA awards are given to mark examples of best practice and excellence in the powered access industry, with judges selecting the winners on their imaginative, unusual or technically demanding solutions to access problems. In Harsco’s case this revolved around creating a bespoke, 180-metre high mast climbing MCWP which enabled large-format, blast-proof cladding to be installed on the outside of Heron Tower. According to cladding contractor Scheldebouw, this was something that ‘just wasn’t possible’ with standard access equipment.
The project highlighted Harsco’s ability to offer engineered access solutions which go beyond the normal equipment hire parameters. It also underlined Harsco’s skills in enabling the customer to speed up the schedule of cladding work while still ensuring complete safety for the workforce.
“We’re delighted to win this award,” comments Harsco Infrastructure’s European Managing Director, Paul O’Kelly. “This is one of many projects that illustrate our innovative approach and commitment to the continuous development of the powered access market and the Award shows that our efforts and our successes are being recognised and acknowledged.”