Ceremonies across B.C. remember workers
Richmond, B.C. – Today, thousands of workers, families, employers and union members are remembering those who lost their lives on the job with ceremonies across British Columbia.
The Vancouver ceremony is jointly hosted by the BC Federation of Labour, the Business Council of British Columbia and WorkSafeBC and will start at 10:30 a.m. near the Workers’ Memorial Sanctuary at Hastings Park, 2901 East Hastings St.
In 2016, there were 144 work-related deaths in B.C. Of those, 85 were due to occupational disease, mainly from exposure to asbestos decades ago, and 59 resulted from traumatic injury including 22 from motor-vehicle incidents (MVIs).
In 2016, the highest numbers of work-related deaths by work sector were in construction (30), manufacturing (25), transportation and related industries (25), public administration (19) and primary-resources sectors (14). Work-related deaths from occupational disease increased from 41 percent of all deaths in 2006 to 57 percent in 2016.
The work-related death rate in 2016 for all deaths has decreased by 35 percent when compared with the rate of all work-related deaths in 1996 in B.C.
For more information: www.dayofmourning.bc.ca
Contact:
Trish Knight Chernecki
Media Relations, WorkSafeBC
Tel: 604.232.5814
Cell: 778.871.5841
Email: trish.chernecki@worksafebc.com