B.C. Conservative labour critic Kiel Giddens is marking the National Day of Mourning by remembering workers killed or injured on the job and urging renewed commitment to workplace safety.

Giddens, the MLA for Prince George–Mackenzie, said 138 workers in British Columbia died last year due to workplace injury or illness, including 79 from occupational diseases, 41 from traumatic incidents and 18 in work-related vehicle crashes.

He said each death represents “a person, a family, a future taken too soon.”

Giddens also pointed to the 2012 Lakeland Mills explosion in Prince George, which killed two workers and injured 22 others, as a lasting reminder of the consequences of workplace hazards.

He called on government, employers and workers to treat safety as a fundamental priority, adding that all workers in the province deserve to return home safely at the end of the day.