(CNW Group/Canada’s Building Trades Unions)
During Monday’s Day of Mourning, Sean Strickland, executive director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions called on workers and employers across the construction industry to take a moment to honour workers who have been injured, fallen ill, or lost their lives on the job, and to renew a shared commitment to building safer workplaces for all.
“On the National Day of Mourning, Canada’s Building Trades Unions stand shoulder to shoulder with workers across the country to remember those we’ve lost to workplace accidents and occupational illness,” he said. “This year, we’re putting a spotlight on trenching safety, because no one should face life-threatening risks doing the job they’re trained for. Our focus is, and always will be, on making sure every worker gets home safe at the end of the day.”
Trenching accidents are some of the most preventable yet devastating incidents in construction, but they have been a tragic and recurring concern across skilled trades in recent years.
“No one should lose their life in a preventable trench collapse. Raising awareness, improving training, and enforcing safety standards must be a top priority,” stated Strickland.
According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, 1,057 workers lost their lives due to workplace incidents in 2023, the most recent year for which complete data is available.
“Despite the progress we’ve made, construction remains the fourth highest occupation group for workplace fatalities, at a rate of 20.2 deaths per 100,000 workers,” added Robert Kucheran, chair of the Canadian Executive Board of Canada’s Building Trades Unions. “We cannot accept these numbers as inevitable.”
“We must remember the dead and continue to fight for the living,” said Strickland. “One life lost on the job is one too many—and it’s on all of us to make sure no worker ever has to face that risk alone.”
Canada’s Building Trades Unions are an organization representing 14 international unions in the construction, maintenance and fabrication industries that collectively represent 600,000 skilled trades workers in Canada.