Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

By Bill Tieleman

The voice of the dead was a living voice to me. - Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1847

The voices of 188 dead workers speak loudly from beyond the grave.

That grim number marks the total of workplace fatalities and accepted work-related death claims in B.C. in 2005.

It is a totally unacceptable number, a shameful number, a number that should be intolerable to us all.

Behind that number lies 188 different tragedies, 188 families where someone went to work and never came home again, 188 unsafe workplaces.

And 11 of those 188 were young people, aged 17 to 24 years old.

On Friday April 28 in nearly 100 countries people will stop for a moment to mark those workplace deaths in an international Day of Mourning. In Vancouver workers will gather at the Art Gallery at 7:45 a.m. with 188 coffins and march to the Trade and Convention Centre for a ceremony.

But this solemn occasion is not simply a remembrance for those who died but also a call for action to prevent future deaths and injuries.

And B.C. must do much more to dramatically reduce needless fatalities.

B.C.’s forest and construction sectors are particularly deadly for workers. In 2005 the forest industry lost 43 workers - one every eight and a half days - while 38 workers died in construction-related jobs.

Each death is recorded with a short description of how the nameless worker died in a spreadsheet issued by the ironically re-titled WorkSafeBC [formerly the Workers Compensation Board].

Even without names, places or details, it makes for grim reading:

“Struck by a falling tree.” “Worker was crushed by a loader.” “Worker fell 19 feet from a third-floor unguarded balcony.” “Exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma.” “Contact with power line. Electrocution.” “Fish boat capsized. Worker drowned.” “Pinned between two rail cars.”

The reports go on and on, the plain prose hiding the pain and suffering of the dead and their survivors.

What also goes on and on are hand-wringing comments from governments and employers about the need to make workplaces safer.

The need is certainly there - ask the dead, year after year.

But the political will is not, or else we would see a significant reduction in workplace fatalities. Instead, the number continues to rise, from 156 in 2000 to 188 last year.

That’s because safety costs employers money. Government regulations restrict windfall profits.

And most sadly of all, death benefits can be cheaper to pay than the price of prevention.

Some say there will always be accidents that cannot be prevented, and that is undoubtedly true.

But 188 funerals are far too many to ever accept. Governments and employers must listen to the voices of the dead.

Listen to Bill Tieleman on Mondays at 10 a.m. on CKNW AM 980’s Bill Good Show. E-mail Tieleman at: weststar@telus.net

Source: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/Columnists/NewsViewsAttitude/