Sunday, April 12, 2020

Out of the Blue

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be easy to drop our guard to other safety concerns at work. April 28 reminds us of the consequences of doing so

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Every spring when James Koopman hands out Day of Mourning hard hat stickers to members, he thinks of the day eight years ago when he lost his dad in a workplace accident. James is a CLAC representative in Ontario who used to work in the construction industry. His dad, Eric, was 53 years old and had been an electrician for 34 years.

On November 18, 2011, Eric was working on a lift between pipes at the GM plant in Thorold, Ontario. When he moved the machine, the bucket pivoted suddenly in the wrong direction, crushing his chest between the pipes and the bucket rail. He died three days later.

“It was totally out of the blue,” says James. “And that’s what the Day of Mourning is about. It can happen so quickly. Someone in the prime of their life is just gone. There’s no way to be ready for something like that.

“My dad was the kind of guy who couldn’t go anywhere without stopping to talk to someone he knew. He was well respected and a work horse. At work, they would call him for all the heavy wire pulling, and he could outwork all the young guys. He was also the guy who wasn’t afraid to call out coworkers and management for working unsafe. He was a solid presence in everyone’s life. He was a guy that people counted on.”

April 28 is the International Day of Mourning, a day marked around the world to commemorate those whose lives have been forever changed by a workplace accident or illness. In Canada alone, 1,027 workers died from workplace-related injuries or illnesses, and another 264,438 suffered a lost-time injury or illness in 2018.* The statistics demand attention:

• The construction industry saw the highest fatality rate, with 199 deaths.

• Healthcare and social services workers experience the highest levels of lost-time injuries and illnesses, with 47,014—and those numbers could rise with COVID-19 and limited PPE.

• The manufacturing industry has the second-highest level of lost-time injuries/illnesses and fatalities, with 35,910 injuries and 182 fatalities.

• The transportation and warehousing industry is not far behind, with 27,952 injuries and 94 fatalities.

James knows there’s a lot that can be done to prevent a tragedy like he and his family suffered. Much has changed to make our workplaces safer, but much more still needs to be done to change people’s attitude.

“I look back on the beginning of my career, when I was in my early 20s working in concrete, and the things we did were ridiculous,” says James. “They would never happen today. And if they did with my members, I would be on the phone to their employer losing it getting them to fix it. Putting workers at risk to save what? Fifteen minutes? It just makes no sense. It costs the company more through workers compensation claims and workplace investigations, plus the fines are bigger and there’s the potential for jail time if you’re negligent. Productivity is easily crushed by one small accident.

“If everyone is of the same safety-first mindset, where we all look out for each other, the productivity comes along with it. Once we get to a place of working safe all the time, then it becomes part of the culture. Productivity isn’t lost because we’re always working safe. We don’t lose any time because we know what we have to do to work safely and productively.

“When I go on site and hand out stickers, I talk about what the Day of Mourning is about—making sure that everyone is safe, everyone is going home, and everyone is looking out for each other. The employer and the union can’t be everywhere at once. It’s up to everyone in the workplace to keep an eye out for each other—and to call people to task if they’re not working safely.”

But it can be difficult to speak up if the workplace culture is focussed more on production than safety. With COVID-19, many workplaces are under extreme pressure. This pressure can easily cause us to lose sight of the ways we need to work safely and point out unsafe practices and situations. It can be difficult to speak up when fellow workers or managers blow off concerns by saying “we’ve always done it this way” or “just get it done.”

“Workers are afraid they’ll appear weak or be viewed as a troublemaker if they speak up,” says James. “But you have to make sure that you’re safe and the people around you are safe. It’s difficult to do, but it’s a lot more difficult to call someone’s brother or wife and say they’ve been hurt in an accident at work.”

James’s reminder to work together and to work safely is needed now more than ever as workers and managers grapple with keeping everyone safe in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 28, let’s take a moment to remember those we’ve lost and work safely for ourselves and those around us.

*Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada

Out of the Blue

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