The City of Fort St. John, members of the BC Government Employees Union and the North Central Labour Council came together Tuesday at Festival Plaza, to recognize April 28 as a ‘Day of Mourning.’
Following a group walk, a wreath laying ceremony was held to honour employees killed or injured on the job.
This year unions are highlighting psychosocial health and safety as a critical workplace issue.
“We represent paramedics. We represent nursing professions. We represent educational assistants. All of these professions highly subjected to workplace violence. Highly subjected to trauma. Highly subjected to the kinds of disabilities that it them off for years,” said Andréanne Chénier, a national health and safety representative for the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
WorkSafe-B-C says 138 people died of work-related injuries or illnesses last year across the province, a slightly lower number than the 146 from the previous year.
The agency says 79 of the deaths were from occupational diseases such as cancer, with 36 such cases stemming from asbestos exposure.
There were also 41 traumatic-injury deaths such as falls, being hit or being caught in equipment or machinery, while 18 workers died in motor-vehicle crashes.
Other ceremonies were held across the Northeast BC in Hudson’s Hope and MacKenzie.
With files from The Canadian Press