When the Hunter mining community gathers at the weekend to pay its respects to those who have lost their lives in the region's coalfields, there will also be a moment to reflect on the lives that have been saved by the world's oldest continuous worker-elected safety system.
Inspired by worker-elected check inspectors in Britain, early coal mining unions in the Hunter Valley campaigned for the same system in Australia.
On May 11, 1876 - 150 years ago - NSW became the second jurisdiction in the world to legislate worker-elected check inspectors through the Coal Mines Regulation Act.
Elected by their workmates, the check inspectors raised safety concerns and acted as an independent authority for workers. Crucially, they had the power to stop work where conditions were unsafe.
Over time, district check inspectors evolved into today's industry safety and health representatives who are highly trained statutory role-holders with recognised powers in inspections, investigations and enforcement.
"150 years is a remarkable amount of time for workers to be represented, to have a voice, to know they have got one of their own in their corner," Mining and Energy Union (MEU) general vice-president Stephen Smyth said.
This year's gathering at the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall on Sunday morning will be the MEU's 29th annual memorial day service.
It will carry particular poignancy following the death of United Wambo mineworker and MEU member Paul Phillips, who was fatally injured at work on August 3.
Mr Phillips' death is the latest tragedy in a history represented by the 1794 names now recorded on the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall, spanning more than two centuries of coal mining in the region.
"Behind every name on this wall is a person who went to work and never came home, and a family and community who had to live with that loss," MEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District president Robin Williams said.
"This year that reality is painfully fresh. Paul Phillips lost his life at United Wambo only weeks ago, and his death has had a profound impact on his family, his workmates and the wider mining community.
"Memorial Day connects the history of our industry with the responsibility we carry today. Mining has changed enormously over generations, but the fundamental promise to every mineworker must be the same: you should be able to go to work and return safely to the people who love you."
The service will include longstanding commemorative traditions, including the Mineworkers' Pipe Band leading the ceremony, the miners' safety lamp, wreath laying by families and representatives from across the mining community, and hundreds of floral tributes lining the black granite memorial wall.
The Jim Comerford Memorial Wall has been a place of remembrance for Hunter mining families for 30 years and records the human toll of coal mining across the northern district coalfields.
