National Day of Mourning 2016

Each year on April 28th, Canadians honour the thousands of workers who have been killed, injured or suffered illnesses as a result of occupational incidents and exposures. Respect is also paid to the families and friends who have been affected by these tragedies. The day serves as a reminder that workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses are preventable.

This year, many groups across Canada chose to commemorate the Day of Mourning by pushing for a total ban on asbestos. The Occupational Cancer Research Centre has studied the impact of asbestos on the health of Canadians, and has contributed to the campaign to ban asbestos by providing data to groups including the Canadian Cancer Society, Ban Asbestos Canada, and labour organizations such as the Canadian Labour Congress. Click here for more information about banning asbestos in Canada.

For the Day of Mourning, the OCRC and Cancer Care Ontario have also prepared a special edition Ontario Cancer Fact on interventions to reduce the risks of shiftwork. Shiftwork is linked to occupational disease as well as being a cause of accident and injury on the job.

Ontario Cancer Fact: Shiftwork, breast cancer and health: interventions to reduce the risks