As an apprentice who has worked in the same industry for over a decade, and as someone who has worked in construction previously, I was very much saddened to hear of the death of a young construction worker in his early-20s in Langford on Sept. 25. Shockingly, on the same day, another man in his mid-20s died at a job site in Nanaimo. Of course, there is little information released to the public despite this being an issue that concerns all workers.
Workplace incidents are ALWAYS preventable, and this could have easily been myself or someone close to me that this happened to. In fact, I can recall a few too many instances of thinking to myself, “sh*t, that was way too close. Surely, I won’t do something that stupid again.”
But then time passes and something on the job goes wrong or the job gets off schedule. Most trades workers will know what I mean — either your boss is breathing down your neck, or you know if you don’t get a certain task done as soon as possible, there will be consequences for you as a worker, whether it’s against labour laws or not.
That is when workers are pressured to take shortcuts to keep a job on budget for capitalist gains. The risks of taking a shortcut at work are just immaterial as you completely forsake your own wellbeing for a job.
These deaths follow a major injury at another job site in Victoria on Sept. 7 when 4,000 pounds of reinforced concrete fell onto a worker from 10 to 12 feet high.
So, now I’m reminded that not only do we still have inadequate protections for workers, plus a toxic culture of profits-first mixed with tough-guy nonsense, but also an underfunded and overworked healthcare system too, which includes our ambulance services. These deaths should never have happened.
I want to remind everyone that you do not owe your boss anything. You are there to do your job safely. If your boss wants you to put production ahead of your wellbeing, it is time to get a different job. Better yet, organize with your fellow workers. They deserve to go home safely at the end of every day.
Last, but not least, you have, enshrined in law, the RIGHT to REFUSE UNSAFE work.
Jonathan Eldred
Duncan