On April 28, workers across Canada come together to mourn the dead and fight for the living. This year, we are highlighting workers facing burnout, chronic stress and mental health crises caused by work, and honouring those we have lost to work-related psychological harm. Every workplace injury or death is preventable, whether the harm is physical or psychological. Today we mourn those we have lost and fight for workers to not only survive but to thrive.
Psychological health and safety is occupational health and safety. Workplace injuries – both physical and psychological – are serious and must be treated as such. These injuries are real, they are preventable and they’re not “just part of the job.”
With so many instances of signal worker workplace deaths in Quebec, co-workers and those considering highway construction jobs might make one wonder if they’ll be next. Let’s talk about how work can hurt mental well-being.
Workers who witness fatalities or serious injuries on the job may struggle with their own mental health. Even when workers can’t return to the same area of the workplace due to PTSD, it is understood but too seldom spoken about.
Nearly half of working Canadians say their job is the most stressful part of their daily lives and many workers report feeling burned out. Between 2012 and 2022, the proportion of lost time claims due to mental health issues more than doubled. In 2023 alone, more than 8,500 workplace mental health injury claims were accepted by compensation boards, with 18 of those being fatal claims.
Workers need enforceable protections and real prevention, along with provinces, territories and the federal government working together to ensure workers are protected across Canada. Employers must be trained on how to identify psychosocial hazards beyond violence and harassment – such as excessive workloads, toxic workplace cultures – and work with joint health and safety committees to control them. Ignoring psychological hazards should no longer be an option.
Just as we don’t accept unsafe scaffolding or asbestos exposure, we should never accept working conditions that harm workers’ psychological health. That’s why we are calling on all levels of government to:
Every worker deserves to come home safe at the end of the day – safe in body and in mind. Working together, Canada’s unions will continue to fight for workplaces that are truly safe, healthy, and respectful for all.
In solidarity,
Marty Warren
USW National Director
Scott Lunny
USW District 3 Director (Western Canada and the Territories)
Nicolas Lapierre
USW District 5 Director (Quebec)
Kevon Stewart
USW District 6 Director (Ontario and Atlantic Provinces)
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