National Day of Mourning 2007
April 27, 2007 OPSEU head office holds annual ceremony to
mark Day of Mourning
OPSEU head office
staff observe a moment of silence for workers killed
or injured on the job.
OPSEU First Vice-president
Treasurer Patty Rout, Jordan Berger (ASU) and
Stacey Zafiriadis (OPSSU) speak to commemorate
Day of Mourning.
Every April 28 for over twenty years, workers, unions and other
organizations stop to remember and honour those who have died, suffered injury
or experienced illness due to work-related causes. But it’s not enough to
be sad. As we mourn for those who have suffered, we re-affirm our
commitment to fight for safe and healthy workplaces.
In 1983, the Canadian Labour Congress declared
April 28th as a National Day of Mourning. In the following
years, the Canadian government and more than 100 other countries
followed suit and now recognize the day.
Workers give huge chunks of their lives to their
workplaces. They do not deserve to have their health negatively
impacted by hazards in the workplace, hazards that can be
carried home to affect their families as well.
A recent study of workplace fatalities by the
Ottawa-based Centre for Living Standards found that the
incidence of workplace fatalities is increasing in Canada in
contrast to almost every other OECD country. Moreover, deaths
from occupational illnesses have shown a dramatic increase.
Data collected by the Canadian Association of Workers
Compensation Boards shows that work-related fatalities in Canada
jumped from 758 in 1993, to 958 in 2004, and alarmingly reached
1 097 in 2005. Cancers, asbestos related diseases and
other illnesses account for almost half of all fatalities.
In addition to fatalities, each year around the
world there are some 268 million non-fatal workplace injuries in
which the victims miss at least three days of work.
Another 160 million workers develop a work-related illness each
year. In Ontario, statistics registered 315 work-related
deaths in 2006 (142 more fatality claims are waiting for
decision) and over 82,000 accepted lost time claims. The
fatality numbers do not reflect the true toll taken by
occupational diseases, estimated to be as high as 6,000 workers
every year.
In memoriam: John Stammers, Betty
North
This year the members of the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union grieve for John Stammers, who died after
being struck by a car while on picket duty on March 20, 2006,
just a month before last year’s Day of Mourning. John was a
professor of Accounting at Centennial College in Scarborough.
He died while standing up for what he and other OPSEU members
believe in—the right to a fair contract.
We also grieve for another OPSEU member—Betty
North, who was a customer service representative at an LCBO
store in Thunder Bay before she passed away in July 2006 from
complications resulting from a workplace injury. “Betty Boop,”
as she was known by co-workers, loved camping and her pets and
was treasured by her family and all who knew her.
Prevention is the cure
Losses of health—and their very lives from
workplace causes – are the toll that workers so often suffer
from unsafe work and unhealthy workplaces. The losses are
senseless, yet still continue to happen. There has been
little improvement in all the years that have passed since
health and safety legislation has existed, especially in some of
the sectors where OPSEU members work. Another approach is
clearly needed. The approach that makes
sense—PREVENTION—is often discussed but rarely implemented.
Prevention needs to be embedded into workplace health and safety
legislation, workplace culture and ultimately into employer
priorities.
In the recently released SARS Commission Final
report, Justice Campbell noted the importance of prevention.
He echoed what workers and labour have been saying for
years—that more steps must be taken to prevent tragedies.
Specifically, Justice Campbell recommended adoption of the
“precautionary principle,” which states that action to reduce
risk need not await scientific certainty. Campbell
declared that the precautionary principle should, “be expressly
adopted as a guiding principle throughout Ontario’s health,
public health, and worker safety systems by way of policy
statement, by explicit reference in all relevant operational
standards and directions, and by way of inclusion, through
preamble, statement of principle, or otherwise, in the
Occupational Health and Safety Act….”
Better enforcement needed
Along with prevention, enforcement is required
to ensure that employers comply with existing health and safety
laws and regulations. In April 2007, just before this Day of
Mourning, 28 new health and safety inspectors graduated.
These inspectors represent the last group of the 200 new
inspectors the government hired since 2004 to re-establish
inspectorate numbers set approximately fifteen years ago. While
a fully-staffed inspectorate is essential to health and safety
enforcement, inspectors need to be able to enforce health and
safety legislation that reflects the hazards of today, such as
ergonomics and workplace violence, including working alone.
Ontario lags far behind a number of other provinces which
already have specific legislation to address these hazards.
In 2006 the Ministry of Labour announced the
release of the “MSD Guideline” that is available for use by
employers, workers and unions to minimize the incidence of
musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace. These
debilitating injuries account for almost half of all accepted
workers compensation claims in Ontario and cause workers a
lifetime of pain. Although the government stopped short of
enacting regulations on ergonomics, the Ministry of Labour
assures us that the guideline will be used as an enforcement
tool by health and safety inspectors to write orders under the
general duty clause of the health and safety act to address
ergonomic issues.
We can all fight to have Justice Campbell’s
recommendations on the precautionary principle implemented, and
we can all use the MSD Guideline to help spare healthy and
injured workers the pain and disablement suffered by too many of
us. And we all need to demand that Ontario’s health and
safety legislation be updated to reflect emerging hazards of the
last quarter-century, such as ergonomics and workplace violence.
Minute of Silence, Friday, April 27
Please join us for a minute of silence at 12
noon on Friday April 27 to pay tribute to all workers and
families who mourn a loved one lost or suffering from illness or
injury caused by work. Take a minute to think about John
Stammers and Betty North who have lost their lives in the recent
past. Take a minute to think about what you can contribute
to the fight for safe and healthy workplaces.
All locals are encouraged to plan “Day of
Mourning” events. Since April 28 falls on a Saturday this
year, events will be held on Friday April 27.
The Toronto & York Labour Council and the
Workers Health and Safety Centre (WHSC) invite workers and
locals to gather this year on Friday April 27
·
In Toronto at 12:00 noon: Larry Sefton Park, Bay and
Hagerman Streets (immediately behind city hall).
·
In Woodbridge at 11:00: at Woodbridge Memorial Arena (5020
Highway #7 at Islington).
For a full list of Day of Mourning events
across Ontario,
click here.
Health and Safety Index
|
