Prince George recognizes National Day of Mourning

“We’re at near all time lows for the number of workers who get injured in a year. That part of it is getting much better. What has remained stubbornly consistent is the number of workplace deaths. The number is lower than it was last year and lower than the number the year before but these things have a tendency to pop up again. It’s stubborn and as we try to drive down the number of workplace deaths, we’ve made a lot of inroads. But there’s still a lot of work to do.” said Occupational Safety Officer and Supervisor for WorkSafe Bc Mike Tasker.

One area that has recently come under the microscope since Covid is mental health which is proving to be just as harmful as negligence or misunderstanding and this can lead to many worksite problems.

“It’s the unseen trauma to the people. that you know. You know the saying go home from work being whole. Are you being whole? Are you whole if you’re being bullied at work, being pressured by your employers. Is that keeping your mind on the job? Then we go into accidents after rushing, getting bullied or pushed. I’m seeing the mental health side really starting to be discussed. It’s something that’s very important that should be discussed.” said Baker.

Tasker adds that both workers and employers need to know their rights and when to speak up adding that workplace knowledge and communication on both sides can greatly reduce future problems.

“It’s about responsibility in my view. Responsibility on the part of employers and workers to understand what their responsibilities and their rights are and to use the voice to uphold those responsibilities and those rights.” said Tasker.

So this leads to the question are employers taking the precautions to make workplaces safer for their employees?

“We’re seeing a lot of very dedicated employers. Overwhelmingly in my work I see employers that really want to do the right thing. Sometimes they’re held back by lack of knowledge or lack of creativity in finding solutions to problems that they have in their workplace. Rarely do I find employers that are negligent or really just don’t care about their workers. That’s just not something that happens very often.” added Tasker

by Nick Dube

Prince George recognizes National Day of Mourning

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