Angela Gismondi
Special to Ontario Construction News
The Day of Mourning, is not only a day to remember and honour the hundreds of workers who die, suffer serious injury or illnesses due to workplace tragedy, it’s also a day to collectively renew our commitment to improving health and safety in the workplace and to preventing further injuries, illnesses and deaths.
That was the message from Anne Tennier, President and Chief Executive Officer for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).
“The national Day of Mourning is a day to remember and honour those lives lost or injured to workplace tragedy and it really does serve as a call to protect the living and make work a place where people can be safe and thrive,” Tennier told Ontario Construction News.
Every year on April 28, flags across Canada fly at half-mast to mark the Day of Mourning. It’s known as a day to “mourn for the dead and fight for the living.”
“April 28, that day is really a significant day for both the health and safety movement and the labour movement because it was on that day back in 1914 that Ontario proclaimed the first comprehensive Worker’s Compensation Act in Canada,” said Tennier. “It just shows how long ago people came together and recognized that people are getting injured, people are dying from their work and they need support.”
In 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Parliament of Canada passed the Workers Mourning Day Act making April 28 an official Day of Mourning. Today, Day of Mourning has spread to more than 100 countries around the world and is recognized as Workers’ Memorial Day, and as International Workers’ Memorial Day by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
Workplace incidents affect more than just the worker. Behind every statistic there is a person, a life, friends and family left behind that are deeply impacted.
“We know that a workplace tragedy goes far beyond the worker,” Tennier explained. “It affects their family, it affects their community, it affects the workers and they’re left in anguish if they see their colleagues severely injured or experience a fatality. For us at CCOHS, it really is a day that pulls it all together for why we do what we do, our reason for existence: to foster healthy and safe workplaces and protect workers from illness and injury.”
CCOHS, as well as many municipalities, labour organizations and employers, usually commemorate the Day of Mourning by observing a moment of silence at 11 a.m. in memory of those who have lost their lives or suffered an injury or illness.
“We do that at our workplace but we also support workplaces all across the country by offering resources on our website to help other workplaces commemorate the day and promote awareness,” said Tennier. “We have posters, we have social media cards, we have podcasts. We have a video that can be played while holding a moment of silence. Those are all things we can do to make it just a little bit easier. If people don’t know where to start, they can come to the website. There are resources that are prominently on display throughout April.”
Those resources can be found at CCOHS: Day of Mourning
CCOHS: Day of Mourning
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) promotes a safe and healthy working environment by providing occupational health and safety information and advice.
While many workplaces commemorate the day privately with their own staff, often municipalities will collaborate with a local labour organizations or district labour councils to organize community commemorations. In Hamilton, for example, the Hamilton District Labour Council organizes a commemoration on April 28 and they hold it at City Hall where there is a Worker’s Memorial. The event often includes speeches from union leaders, advocates or those who have lost a loved one, a procession and individuals, families and representatives lay wreaths at the foot of the monuments. Organizations that support injured workers will also participate.
Public commemorations can be found on the Ontario Federation of Labour website https://ofl.ca/day-of-mourning-events-in-ontario/ .
While there is no theme for the Day of Mourning, Tennier pointed out that new and young workers are an especially vulnerable group in the construction industry.
“Take a moment to think about your own workplace,” Tennier noted. “New is new. Whether you’re new to the workplace because you’re just fresh out of school or you’re new to the workplace because you’ve decided to go back to work, for whatever reason, you’re starting a job that’s new to you. Those workers are vulnerable and at risk for potential injury. It’s really important that any new worker receives orientation and training and understands their rights and responsibilities and is encouraged to come forward if they feel their environment is unsafe. It’s not an easy thing to do but the internal responsibilities and the rights of workers – the right to know, the right to participate, the right to refuse – are integral to how we manage workplace health and safety across Canada,” said Tennier.
According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), in 2023 there were 1,057 workplace fatalities recorded in Canada. Among these deaths were 29 young workers aged 15 to 24. There were 274,022 accepted claims for lost time due to a work-related injury or disease, including 32,861 from workers aged 15 to 24. The statistics only include what is reported by the compensation boards so the numbers could actually be much greater than that, Tennier pointed out.
“This is why it’s so important that young workers receive the right training,” said Tennier. “Imagine starting out your work career, which many of these young people are doing, and you experience a workplace injury. That is just horrendous.”
“I think it’s fair to say that we all have a role to play in workplace health and safety,” Tennier stated. “This is an important component when we create a workplace culture of prevention when we’re looking not just at our own safety but at the safety and wellbeing of our fellow colleagues.”