The Day of Mourning is an important day to many – especially our own staff, some of whom began a career in health and safety because they were affected by a workplace incident or death.

Janice Melvin, a vocational rehabilitation consultant based out of our Victoria office, takes pride in her work. She feels honoured to work for an organization that strives to prevent what happened to her own father.

Janice's father started his career as a chemical engineer in the '60s, where he was regularly exposed to toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. She remembers her mother would buy him inexpensive shirts, because he would come home with his shirts partially melted by the harmful substances he was working with.

In the early 1970s, Janice's father began working at a pulp mill on Vancouver Island where he continued to be exposed to dangerous materials. In 1984, when Janice was just 11, her father died of cancer at the age of 43. He left behind his wife of 19 years and three young children.

The loss of Janice's father took a devastating toll on the whole family, but especially Janice's mother. Now the sole breadwinner, she returned to the workforce as a registered nurse, but osteoarthritis in her knees eventually forced her to give it up. Debilitating depression ultimately consumed her, and she died by suicide in 2003.

Influenced by her own family's tragedies, Janice has always been drawn to work in the service of others. "My life experiences have taught me that assisting others is the best way to heal myself and accept life's challenges," says Janice.

For many years, Janice was employed as a community support worker, working with adults with acquired brain injuries and mental health issues. She assisted individuals with daily living activities and connected them to the community, fostering as much independence as possible. She then moved into the world of employment services, where she worked primarily with members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community who had difficulty in connecting with employment opportunities.

In September 2018, Janice made the move to WorkSafeBC. "Here I have the opportunity to support injured workers in their return to work," she says. "And when possible, I work to assist with accommodations in the workplace so that workers may safely return to careers they know and love.

"It is a privilege to support injured workers and be part of an organization that promotes healthy and safe workplaces across B.C."

Janice and her father

Take a moment on April 28 to remember

Join us in a moment of silence on April 28 at 10:30 a.m. to remember the 151 B.C. workers who died last year from a workplace injury or disease.

Watch our social media channels and dayofmourning.bc.ca for a video message from our partners to recognize the day, and those we have lost.