Today, Monday April 28 / 2025, is a very important day
Today is the National Day of Mourning
Observed since 1984 in Canada, the Day of Mourning urges us to pause during our day and take a moment to remember those who have lost their lives due to a workplace incident or illness.
In Alberta in 2024
We saw a record setting 203 deaths due to workplace incidents and illnesses.
For perspective, there were 165 deaths in 2023.
Prior to Last Year
The number of workplaces death in Alberta have been fairly steady, hovering around the 165 mark. However, deaths due to occupational illness have risen since 2023.
Occupational illness and occupational disease are caused by worker exposure to health hazards. Health hazards are those workplace hazards which harm our health, whether immediately or over time.
Overtime, exposure to the above hazards can lead to permanent hearing loss, cancer, silicosis, and other long term illnesses and diseases.
We often overlook health hazards during the hazard assessment process, in favour of safety hazards which are more visible.
Although, unfortunately, there is little we can do to prevent the deaths of these workers fatally exposed to health hazards in the past, consider their passing a call to action for us to take now.
Identify the health hazards in your workplace. Assess them for risk, and determine how you and your organization can prevent or minimize worker exposure.
Implement hazard controls for health hazards, such as:
- Mufflers on loud equipment
- Removal of hazardous materials such as silica, asbestos, and lead
- Substitute hazardous products for those which are less harmful
- Organize work to minimize exposure to hazardous products, or tasks such as manual or repetition
- Provide equipment to employees to assist with lifting
- Quality personal protective equipment or PPE for workers, keeping in mind that PPE should be used last to control a hazard. This can include respiratory protection, ski protection, and hearing protection
