International Day of Mourning focuses on workplace deaths
By TONY CLARKE
Apr 29, 2008

There were 154 workplace fatalities recorded throughout Alberta in 2007, the highest number in a decade. It also marked the 11th straight year the province had more than 100 workplace-related deaths.
In remembrance of those killed or injured while on the job, family, friends and colleagues gathered at the CUPE Local 70 Worker’s Memorial Site in the Mountain View Cemetery for a special ceremony Monday.
The ceremony marked the 13th annual International Day of Mourning, which is also a time to reflect on what needs to be accomplished to make work sites safer and healthier.
“Today is incredibly important because work related injuries and deaths are totally preventable,” said CUPE Local 70 president Duane Thomas.
In 2006, Canada recorded more than 800 work-related deaths, 124 of these occurring in Alberta. The 24 per cent increase in workplace fatalities in the province in 2007 shows much more needs to be done.
“We haven’t seen numbers like this since the early ‘80s. There were 154 deaths last year and already this year there’s been over 30,” said Thomas. “It’s a fact that at some worksites, health and safety standards are not adhered to and we need to get that awareness out there.”
Greg and Karen Collier were among those at Monday’s ceremony. Their daughter, Sharla Collier, a rehabilitation worker, was killed in November 2002 when working alone with a 14-year-old boy with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
Karen isn’t surprised work-related deaths continue to rise each year in the province.
“It just keeps going and what it tells me is there doesn’t seem to be any common sense anymore,” she said. “This ceremony means a lot to families who have lost someone. It isn’t easy for us to come and do this, but it is a way to keep the awareness out there. We’re here to remember Sharla, but also for everyone else who lost their life at work.”
Deb Dore’s daughter, Tara McDonald, was the 25-year-old who was beaten to death while working alone at a Subway restaurant in Calgary in February 2000.
Dore has been a strong advocate for laws against working alone since her daughter’s death.
“The government can pass all of the regulations they want, but they have to enforce them and they haven’t been doing it,” she said.
Dore feels the government and business owners just want critics of workplace legislation to just go away.
“They thought we would go away a long time ago, but it’s not going to happen. We (families) got a life sentence and all we were guilty of was loving our loved ones.”
Rhonda Worrall, chairperson of the Southern Alberta North American Occupational Safety and Health Committee, said events like next week’s National Safety and Health Awareness Week are important.
“It is going to take joint efforts and everyone’s commitment. The ones who are already doing something should share their ideas with others and get everyone on the same page of the safety book so that we all go home safe and sound everyday.”

© Copyright by LethbridgeHerald.com