The 38th forest industry fatality in British Columbia this year prompted the United Steelworkers Union to call for a one day summit to examine ways of preventing more deaths.
The union’s Western Canada director Steve Hunt described the latest fatality as an “absolute outrage and disgrace to this industry and the province of BC”.
The 38th victim died while felling timber for a contractor on a heli-logging operation on Vancouver Island.
The union asked government officials and industry leaders to attend the summit in Vancouver on December 5.
Actions demanded by the union include: more timely investigations of workplace fatalities and serious accidents; mandatory coroners’ inquests; committees with authority to order immediate workplace changes in response to fatality investigations and inquests; and full enforcement of a bill which can lead to criminal prosecution for negligence leading to workplace death.
