Safety Matters

On Sunday, communities in Nova Scotia, across Canada and around the world pause and remember those who have fallen, been injured or became ill at work. 

The Day of Mourning offers employees and employers the opportunity to publicly renew their commitment to improve health and safety in the workplace.

In 2012, nearly 26,500 Nova Scotians were injured on the job, with almost 6,400 of them injured seriously enough to lose time from work. Tragically, there were 32 workplace fatalities in Nova Scotia last year. 

To date, there have already been 11 fatalities in 2013. 

For those who went to work to provide for their families, to contribute to society, and never returned, today is truly a day of mourning.  This mourning doesn't last a single day, once a year. It’s a life of loss; a pain that never truly goes away. 

It’s remembering our fallen worker that drives me, the WCB team and all of our safety partners forward each and every day to do all that we can to make our workplaces safer. Together we move forward to try and achieve a different future – one that’s defined by injuries prevented rather than lives lost.

Day of Mourning is more than just 24 hours to remember lost and injured loved ones. It’s a call to action – for us to say: one fatality is too many and that all workplace injuries are preventable.

For our part the WCB will continue to be a catalyst for change, moving us from a province that knows about safety, to one that cares about safety. 

Our fallen workers have left this province with a lasting legacy and we can honour them by remembering and promising to work safe for life. 

Make a Day of Mourning tribute to an injured or fallen worker.