Nova Scotia families call for improvements to workplace safety

On the National Day of Mourning, families of employees who died in workplace accidents renewed calls to implement better safety precautions to prevent future injury or death.

Families in Nova Scotia who have had a loved one killed or injured in a workplace accident believe more change is needed to ensure others don’t have to endure the same pain.

Marking the National Day of Mourning to commemorate these workers, members of the public and elected officials gathered outside Province House in Halifax on Thursday, stopping for a moment of silence.

Nearly 30 years ago to the day, a buildup of methane gas sparked an explosion at the Westray Mine in Nova Scotia, which took the lives of 26 miners. Tragedy on that day lead to calls for more accountability and better safety measures within the workplace.

While improvements have been made, Genesta Halloran-Peters was forced to raise her children without their father, who died in the explosion.

On Thursday, she said the legacy of the disaster lives on not only through the families left behind but what it taught the province about workplace safety.

“We have come a long way in the past 30 years, but not far enough. Every year, lives are still being changed by workplace tragedies,” said Halloran-Peters.

Shannon Kempton, who lost her father following a workplace accident in 2013, said the shock from getting the call that you’ve lost a loved one is unexplainable.

Now, she works with families who are forced to endure the same feeling after a workplace accident. Kempton regularly contacts local officials to inform them of potential improvements to the system, but said her calls often fall on deaf ears.