Editor,
Day over day, without exception, somewhere in Canada at least one family has received the news that a loved one has been killed on the job. A loved one that left for work only a few hours ago. A loved one that had aspirations and dreams just like any other person.
Such immediate loss is but one way to count lives lost in the pursuit of a livelihood. Such acute losses may come about as result of a fall, electrocution, crushing incident, motor vehicle accident, suffocation, violence or struck by an object to name only a few examples. Daily, yes, but magnitudes greater are the death and suffering that are the result of previous exposures to a workplace toxin, designated substance, volatile chemical or other hazardous material present in many workplaces.
Imagine, if you will, the phone call or knock on the door where the news that there has been an accident is given to the family. Can we each take time to think of how we would feel? It is in this moment of bottomless grief and the years to follow where the loss is keenly felt and where we take time to honour and remember all those lost to workplace injury and illness on April 28th each year.
The loss to the family and immediate circle is profoundly painful, but not always considered are those people we will never meet. The influence a single person exerts is seldom fully grasped by any of us.
If someone is not directly affected statistics may make workplace tragedy seem distant. Illness is ever present in our workplaces. In only the last two years people who have retired from the utility sector in our region have submitted claims to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board for mesothelioma, an often fatal lung condition that is known to occur as a direct result of asbestos exposure. Fatality is not far from our workplaces either. In our region we have the example of a hit-by/crushing fatality and in the extended utility industry two fatal electrical contacts.
In a clear example of this, one union leader expressed to the membership the value of Joint Health and Safety Committee worker members. This leader said to the assembled membership that the worker members of the Joint Health and Safety Committee have saved many from the jaws of workplace death, injury or occupational illness and this has been done without those being saved even being aware that this miracle has ever taken place.
Taking any of these workers members or other such person committed to workplace health and safety out of the picture through injury death or illness and this influence is lost.
The Grey Bruce Labour Council has the privilege of coordinating/chairing a number of Day of Mourning Ceremonies in our region. For the 30th time the Grey Bruce Labour Council will be honoured with the opportunity to chair the event at Bruce Power while other events will be held in Hanover and Chesley. The Hanover event will take place at Heritage Square at 11 a.m. on April 28, and is coordinated by Labour Council delegate Hazel Pratt. The Chesley ceremony will take place at the Chesley Community Centre Arena at 10 a.m. on April 25, and is coordinated by Labour Council VP Chris Stephen. Both the Hanover and Chesley events are open to the public and the media. All are welcome!
Established in Canada by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), over one hundred countries now observe the Day of Mourning. Public buildings in Canada are to lower flags to half staff and even if no official ceremony is undertaken vast numbers of workplaces take time at 11 a.m. to observe a moment of remembrance.
Lastly, April 28th is a day to remember and honour those killed, injured and made ill as a result of the workplace, but we must not lose sight of the opportunity to recommit ourselves to doing all we can to prevent workplace tragedy.
The Grey Bruce Labour Council has been the voice of workers in Grey and Bruce Counties since 1956 and welcomes all media inquiries.
Kevin Smith, President, Grey Bruce Labour Council
