Remembering loved ones lost at Tasmania's Workers' Memorial service

On Sunday, April 28, their families and colleagues gathered to remember them.

At a morning service held at Launceston's Elizabeth Gardens, 70 people met to commemorate their lost loved ones on International Workers' Memorial Day.

The service of speeches and personal stories was a "show of respect" for families and workers to "let them know that they haven't been forgotten".

Guy Hudson, who lost his son Matthew in an industrial workplace incident in 2004, was one of the event's speakers who shared his family's story and his hopes that no others would have to experience it.

"It's taken over our life, it's horrific," Mr Hudson told ACM in a tell-all interview earlier this month.

"It'll stay with us forever."

The Sunday event took place at the Workers' Memorial Park, a dedicated space established in 2011 following the work of a small but dedicated committee led by unions and family members who had lost a loved one at work, including Mr Hudson.

Hosted by Unions Tasmania, the annual event was not untouched by the body's push for industrial manslaughter laws, which every Australian jurisdiction apart from Tasmania has now moved or committed to create.

"Tasmania is now out of step with the rest of Australia," Unions Tasmania's secretary Jessica Munday said.

"Tasmania's work health and safety laws need to include an industrial manslaughter offence that means employers are deterred from shirking their safety obligations and if a worker dies."

A statement from Small Business Minister Madeleine Ogilvie said the state was "currently considering responses to targeted consultation" on the potential law.

This has received opposition from some employers and employer groups.

"We are working closely with other jurisdictions and stakeholders to prevent workplace fatalities, and to provide better supports to families coping with the significant and lasting impact of losing a loved one at work," she said.

But while politics were an undoubtedly important talking point of the service Reverend Geoff McKinnon - another speaker at the event - spoke to what he thought was the day's true meaning.

"The passing of a loved one, or a mate, reminds us that our lives are marked by our frailty and our enduring connection," Mr McKinnon said.

"Time's tide may wash their footprints from the shore, but never your love for them, or the unique influence of their life upon your own."