Every year hundreds of men and women across New Zealand head into work but never make it home.

Today marks Workers Memorial Day and all the men and women killed while at work here in the Bay will be remembered at a special event taking place at Pilot Bay in Mount Maunganui from 12pm.

A mandala of Eramiha Pairama. The 19-year-old was killed when he was struck by a falling tree in a forest near Taneatua in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in January 2013. Photo: Mike Mather/Fairfax NZ

Held annually on April 28, Workers Memorial Day draws attention to the plight of the hundreds of New Zealand workers who die every year as a result of their work.

According to ACC figures, there were 99 Kiwis who were killed while at work from July 2014 to June 2015, says NZ Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff.

'Workers Memorial Day is sombre. We remember those whose lives would have been saved if their workplaces had been safer. All of these deaths could have been prevented,” says Richard.

'All around the country events of remembrance are occurring. There are also events focused on fighting for the living; fundraising for the legal work which has justice in its sight for the families whose loved ones never came home.”

One of those people who never made it home was Eastern Bay teenager Eramiha Pairama, who was killed while working on a forestry block near Taneatua in January 2013.

Last year the CTU successfully took a private prosecution against Puketi Logging, the company whom the 19-year-old had been working for at the time of his death.

A Coronial Inquest into Earmiha's death will be held on a marae near Taneatua today, says Richard.

'On Workers Memorial Day Selina Eruera, mother of Eramiha Pairama, will sit in a coroners hearing in Taneatua. She will listen to the detail of how her son was killed at work and how his death could have been prevented if the right health and safety procedures had been in place.”

Earlier this month new health and safety laws came into force which means kiwis are safer at work, but Richard believes there's still work to be done.

For example, he says people working on farms need better protections, particularly those operating quad bikes, and that elected health and safety representatives are crucial in keeping working people safe but are under attack by some employers.

'We must also address the menace of asbestos - New Zealand's worst workplace killer. We urge Cabinet to ban the import of asbestos containing materials but that is not enough. We need a plan to eliminate it from our buildings,” says Richard.

The Workers Memorial Day event taking place at Pilot Bay in Mount Maunganui will run from 12pm-1pm.