The International Day of Mourning is an annual event to remember those who have lost their lives because of an injury or illness due to a workplace incident. It is very distressing to see how many workers that have been killed, injured, or are suffering as a result of a workplace incident. This is not only in Alberta, or Canada but throughout the world.
On April 28th, it is very important that we remember those who are not with us.
As a team, workers and management need to ensure that they earnestly try to prevent future incidents from happening by setting an example of a commitment to health and safety in their workplace through education followed by improvements to the safety work standards.
In 1991, the federal government passed an Act to be called The Mourning Day Act, which is an act respecting a Day of Mourning for persons killed, disabled, or injured in the workplace or afflicted with an industrial disease.
In April of 2012, a memorial obelisk called "Broken Families" was placed at the Grant Notley Park in Edmonton. Each year on April 28th, many people go to the park (include some of our staff). We light candles in memory of fallen workers in the industry and workplaces in Alberta, Canada, and around the world.
We encourage you to visit these memorial sites and to light a candle at 11:00 AM in memory of fallen workers.
We will be thinking of those that lost their lives and will communicate to all of our staff the importance of a healthy and safe work environment and why it is so very important.
We want all workers to go home each and every night to their families and loved ones.
The management team at NWL will continually encourage everyone to think of their health and safety whether at work or at play. We are only given one life, so we must value it and live it to the fullest.
All of us at NWL work hard to enjoy our life, with “enjoy” being the biggest word, so that we can experience and appreciate our family, friends, and our lives outside of the workplace. No one wants to wake up in the morning and worry that they will be injured or worse while at work, and for that reason our NWL team work together to protect everyone.
178 people in Alberta died from workplace injury or illness in 2021. Read all of their names on the WCB website here.
WCB has also provided resources for you to share within your organization and on social media. We encourage you to download the materials and join us in honouring those we’ve lost.
Sources:
https://www.wcb.ab.ca/about-wcb/community-partnerships/day-of-mourning.asp
https://www.ccohs.ca/events/mourning/
