In 2015, 187 workers in British Columbia lost their lives in a work-related tragedy.
That’s far too many families mourning the loss of a loved one.
More than 100 other workers in our province annually suffer permanent injuries.
It’s important to honour these people and their families and continue the effort to ensure that workplace tragedies become a thing of the past.
Thursday was the annual Day of Mourning.
It has now grown into a worldwide event observed by unions, labour councils, municipalities and even national governments. It is observed in nearly 100 countries worldwide; it has been formally endorsed by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the Parliament of Canada officially recognized the Day of Mourning in 1991.
The Nanaimo, Duncan & District Labour Council hosted a pair of ceremonies, one in Lake Cowichan and another in Nanaimo. The region is still reeling after a workplace shooting rampage at the Western Forest Products mill in Nanaimo that left two people dead.
The impact of any workplace tragedy is massive. Lives are permanently altered, with families, friends and co-workers left behind to deal with difficult situations.
Children lose parents. Families lose breadwinners.
Even one life lost is far too many.
To that end, officials said all the right things on Thursday.
“We have a responsibility, not only to educate ourselves, but to those around us. We need to raise safety awareness amongst our youngest workers to help prevent tragic incidents from occurring in the future,” said B.C. Labour Minister Shirley Bond.
“It is also a day to renew our commitment to fight for healthier and safer workplaces; for greater accountability of negligent employers; and for full compensation for injured workers and survivors,” said BC Federation of Labour president Irene Lanzinger, who also called for a comprehensive ban on asbestos, saying it was the “leading cause of work-related deaths in British Columbia and Canada.”
“There are varying opinions on how to arrive at the goal to get every worker home safely at the end of each day, but I think we can all agree that we all have a role in making this reality possible,” said John Horgan, leader of the B.C. New Democrats.
The last point is an important one.
When it comes to something as important as workplace safety, we’re all in this together.
There should be no specific agenda being pushed, no posturing based on party lines.
The best way to honour those we have lost is to work to ensure other families don’t have to deal with tragedies of their own.
