By Cheryl Jahn

April 28: Day of Mourning

Apr 28, 2025 | 2:14 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The grey and rainy weather reflected the mood at the local Day of Mourning Monday, recognizing the thousands killed on the job every year. But this year, the Canadian Labour Congress is paying special tribute to the silent injury.

“That’s their main push this year for a day of mourning. But it’s talking about everything from mental health to also gases and airborne substances as well. So it could be anxiety, mental health, burnout,” says Matt Baker, President of the North Central Labour Council.

According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, there were more than a thousand workplace fatalities across the country in 2023, with 29 of those deaths among workers between the ages of 15 and 24.

“The 146 fatalities were recorded by WorkSafe in 2024,” explains Steve Mueller with WorkSafe BC. “And of those, fully half were related to some type of occupational disease. And of that 50 per cent, half of that was related to asbestos exposure. And then, of course, almost exactly 25 per cent were related to some type of traumatic injury that occurred on the job site. And 30 deaths happened as a result of motor vehicle accidents.”

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Mueller is no stranger to the dangerous workplace environment.

“I started out working in residential construction in my teens and I worked with a family-owned business. And then I came out to B.C., worked in the forest sector. That was the bulk of my career. I’ve worked in manufacturing, the wood pellet industry. And. And most recently, before I joined WorkSafe, I was dealing with heavy construction.” As someone who’s been in the trenches, Mueller has a message for everyone in the workplace, especially employers.

“The best experiences I’ve had has always been where you’ve got leadership committed to the workers safety and willing to do the right things, as we heard my task or speak to, but also put in the resources and the effort to ensure that the workers are supported every way,” says Mueller.

April 28 was recognized by Parliament as the National Day of Mourning in 1991.