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A blue-collar worker for the town of Oka died yesterday after a side of a hole he was working in caved in. Fabien Guindon, 38, was repairing a water pipe about 11:25 a.m. and had nearly completed his task. He was collecting his tools and getting ready to leave when a wall collapsed and buried him.

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My condolences to his family.

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unionist: Could someone let me know if they see Stephen Harper, Stéphane Dion or Jack Layton issuing their usual statements of sympathy on this occasion?

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Originally posted by N.Beltov:
With a rough average of 3 workers killed on the job every day in Canada, those politicians would be expressing such sympathy several times a day.

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And so they should be, those numbers prove that it is blue collar workers who put their lives on the line daily to serve their country. In fact, if those figures are correct, it would appear the work place is far less safe than a war zone, says much heh?!

Whereas, each and every soldier, and their families are to be supported publically, when the real group in danger, and plight, is ignored.

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Originally posted by remind:

And so they should be, those numbers prove that it is blue collar workers who put their lives on the line daily to serve their country. In fact, if those figures are correct, it would appear the work place is far less safe than a war zone, says much heh?!

Whereas, each and every soldier, and their families are to be supported publically, when the real group in danger, and plight, is ignored.

Says much about skewed perceptions of who really lays their their lives on the line daily, eh!

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I'll second these thoughts. Remind, well said

[ 06 October 2007: Message edited by: munroe ]

[ 06 October 2007: Message edited by: N.Beltov ]

It is high time that the esteem/worth of who actually makes this country run is recognized.

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Originally posted by remind:
Perhaps it is high time union workers and officials start having parades when one of the membership is lost, much the same as the police and fire services do.

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That is a wonderful idea. Even though I'm quite sure the employers wouldn't give workers paid leave and travel to attend, as they do for police and firefighters and soldiers.

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Originally posted by unionist:
That is a wonderful idea. Even though I'm quite sure the employers wouldn't give workers paid leave and travel to attend, as they do for police and firefighters and soldiers.

We have the National Day of Mourning (April 28), but I think we're very remiss in not doing more publicity and mass events.

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Most unions have family days, and unions could have a fund for travel, if every union local sent 2 people, like local head and a steward, there still would be thousands and those locally could all take family days. The companies would soon get the point.

October 6, 2007 at 5:51 PM EDT

HAY RIVER, NWT — A Mountie died of gunshot wounds Saturday in the small community of Hay River, RCMP say.

Constable Christopher John Worden, 30, of Ottawa was responding to a call for police assistance when he was shot and later died of his wounds, said Sergeant Larry O'Brien.

"In a division as small as ours, where everyone knows one another, an incident such as this is felt very strongly," Sgt. O'Brien said.

"Constable Worden was located at the scene and was transported to Hay River hospital where he was pronounced dead.

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The rate of incidence, which is the number of workplace fatalities as a fraction of the number of employed workers calculated as a rate per 100,000 workers, was 6.8 per 100,000 workers in 2005, up from 5.8 in 1993 (Table 2 and Chart 2). This 17 per cent increase is much less than the 44.7 per cent increase in the absolute number of fatalities because of the 26 per cent increase in the number of workers from 12.8 million in 1993 to 16.2 million in 2004.

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The work place fatalities that particularly anger me are the ones that would not have happened if simple measures were taken. Measures that are in place because a coroner's inquest put them there based on previous tragedies, or ministry regulations based on same.

For example, the workers killed in B.C. when they were inspecting a tailings sump. If the confined space entry requirements that we follow at my place of employment were followed there, no one would have died.

Similarly, a summer student killed while cleaning an industrial bread dough mixer would be alive today if he would have been taught, and required to follow, simple lock out procedures.

These are examples that stick out in my mind, but I am sure there are others.

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Originally posted by Tommy_Paine:
And you'd think that work place fatalities from occupational disease would have hit home in Parliament, when one of their own died from such.

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He was once a partner in a road construction and logging firm, and says pathologists determined that his cancer might be linked to exposure to asbestos when he was younger.

"My logging days included a time when we used open, asbestos brakes on the yarders, and while my exposure wasn't that lengthy, it was intense.

"Typically, 20-25 years later, the asbestos works its ugly magic. Unfortunately, I'm right on time."

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III. CANADIAN NEWS

Death from Overwork

Shortly after leaving work at 7am on Dec. 8, 1999, Lance Gilles died after he fell asleep at the wheel and was hit by an oncoming rig. Gilles, a diamond drill worker in Sudbury, Ontario, had worked 12-hour shifts for 30 days in a row, without a day off. He spent 16 of his final 24 hours on the job, according to a report by Nick Lowe