April 28 Day of Mourning

On 1991, the Federal Government legislated April 28th as a Day of Mourning to recognize those people who were killed or injured due to their work. This year the BC Labour Heritage Centre in conjunction with the British Columbia Teachers Federation, WorkSafeBC and BC Federation of Labour have created a educational package for schools to deliver the message about worker rights for new and young workers.


BC has the lowest age in which a child can enter the work force: 12 years old. The youngest in North America. These organizations want to make new and young workers aware that they run a greater risk of being injured on the job than workers in any other age group. The statistics are chilling.

• ​​In BC, an average of 27 young workers have time loss injuries every day.

• Every week, seven young workers are permanently disabled in BC

• Close to one third of all occupational injuries happen to young workers

• On average in BC, over 150 people are killed every year due to their work

• On average, approximately 1,100 workers across Canada are killed every year due to their work

We always argue for our own safety at work. Just like learning conditions, better and safer working conditions for us means better conditions for our students. Health and safety is everybody's business and it is important that we inform our students as well.

You can check out the resources at this link:  http://www.labourheritagecentre.ca/domschoolsproject/ 
Hold a minute of silence on April 28th. Put up posters or have students make them. Download some of the activities from the website such as the script to be read over the announcements. Let's lower the risks for young workers, our students.

Be Safe.