Grieving families demand real enforcement of the Westray Law
Today, May 9th 2025, marks the 33rd anniversary of the Westray disaster, where 26 miners in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, were killed in an underground explosion, the result of appalling disregard for health and safety laws – and the dignity of workers and their families.
No worker should risk their life just by showing up to work. Yet in 2023, 1,056 fatality worker compensation claims were accepted, in keeping with an average of over 1,000 workplace fatalities each and every year.
“Every workplace death is preventable,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Over 30 years after that awful day, such a high fatality rate is nothing short of outrageous. The families of those killed on the job are grieving – and they, alongside Canada’s unions, demand that our justice system hold negligent employers accountable through real and proactive enforcement of the Westray Law.”
The Law was passed in 2004, after a long fight led by the United Steelworkers, which allows for such employers to face criminal prosecution.
The Canadian Labour Congress demands:
- The appointment of dedicated investigators and prosecutors for workplace deaths and injuries, along with mandatory, standardized training for such positions;
- Ensuring Crown attorneys are educated, trained and directed to apply the Westray amendments to the Criminal Code;
- Mandatory training for police and health and safety regulators, supported by the necessary resources, on the proper application of the Westray amendments; and
- Mandatory procedures, protocols and coordination in every jurisdiction for police, Crown prosecutors and health and safety regulators.
“The passage of time has only underscored how unacceptable lax enforcement of the Westray Law is,” concludes Bruske. “Every worker’s life has value – and only real enforcement of the Law reflects that.”