A moment of silence started the National Day of Mourning Ceremony earlier this morning at the worker’s cenotaph at Williams Lake City Hall.
One of the speakers was Jason Sim, Williams Lake Fire Fighter and Union worker at West Fraser Plant.
He spoke about the 10th anniversary of the Babine Forest Product Sawmill and the Lakeland Mill explosions.
“I’ve been an advocate for many years fighting for our safety and rights. Injury and death caused by work are unacceptable. The United Steelworkers continue to fight for safety for all workers whether they’re Unionized or not, everyone deserves a safe workplace. On behalf of the United Steelworkers Local 1-2017, I’ll be laying a wreath in memory of those we’ve lost.”
Occupational Safety Officer with WorkSafeBC, Leonard Auger said 2021 there were 161 work-related deaths.
99 were the result of occupational diseases, many of them related to exposure to asbestos.
47 deaths were the result of a traumatic incident at the worksite and 15 because of a motor vehicle incident.
Worker deaths in high-risk industries include 29 in construction, 28 in manufacturing, 9 in forestry, and 6 in health care.
A National Day of Mourning ceremony is planned to take place later this afternoon at the monument in West Quesnel at the corner of Abbott Drive and Anderson Drive.