Okanagan deaths prompt call for safer workplaces

The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling for action after two recent on-the-job deaths in the Okanagan.

“All workers must enjoy the basic right to be safe on the job and to come home safely to their families at the end of their shift,” BCFED president Irene Lanzinger said. But these two deaths, along with a third involving a Victoria construction workers two weeks ago,are a sign that more needs to be done to protect workers.”

On Friday,  a worker at a log sorting facility in Lumby was killed on the job.  On Monday evening, an employee at the Tolko mill in Kelowna died when the boom boat he was operating sunk in Okanagan Lake.

The RCMP and Workers’ Compensation Board are investigating both tragedies.

“Our view is that government and employers aren’t doing enough to keep workers safe on the job,” Lanzinger said. “Health and safety protections are weak and not always rigorously enforced. Worker safety is being compromised. Injured workers aren’t fairly compensated, and employers whose negligence kills or seriously injures workers are let off with a slap on the wrist.”

Lanzinger says the BCFED will continue to press the provincial government and Opposition NDP for more stringent laws and rules, more frequent workplace safety inspections, tougher enforcement, more stringent penalties for employers who commit violations, and for greater balance and fairness at the WCB.