Flags were lowered to half mast and a moment of silence was held to remember the workers who have been injured, disabled or killed in work related incidents.
A ceremony was held at City Hall on Friday, where Deputy Mayor Stephanie Munro signed a proclamation to officially recognize April 28 as the National Day of Mourning. Safety Officer John Stevens says that the proclamation reaffirms their commitment to health and safety in the workplace.
“The more we can do to prevent things from happening the fewer lives that we can lose and we can all go home safe at the end of the day. No one wants to lose a coworker and no business wants to lose an employee. The more we can do now the better job we can do in the future protecting workers.”
In Alberta, 166 lives have been lost to work related incidents and 27 in Saskatchewan. Recently, Alberta strengthened workers rights with the addition of three more under Occupational Health and Safety regulations. Stevens says that safety in the workplace has come a long way in the past few years.
“It used to be a very reactive type situation now we’re a lot more proactive. The point is to get out in front of things and stop them from happening in the first place rather than jumping once something has happened.”
The Lakeland Regional Safety Committee and Lloydminster Construction Association will be holding a kickoff barbecue for North American Occupational Safety and Health Week on May 4, as well as a free fire extinguisher training session at the Chamber of Commerce.