The mother of the man who died in explosion at a Terrace Bay pulp mill last year says she hopes her son’s death shows that workplace fatalities can happen to anyone.
More than 50 people attended the Day of Mourning ceremony outside the Lakehead Labour Centre on Saturday. The ceremony was started to honour employees who have been injured or died while working on the job. The ceremony honoured Terry “TJ” Berthelot who was killed last year in an explosion at the Terrace Bay Pulp Mill.
He was 28 years old.
Berthelot’s family attended the ceremony including his wife and young daughter. The family paid their respects to not only Berthelot but also other workers.
Berthelot’s mother, Joyce said she felt overwhelmed by the ceremony and wasn’t aware they were going to dedicate it to her son’s memory. She said she’s honoured that her son was honoured in such a away.
Having lost her son, she said if companies can’t ensure the safety of their employees then they shouldn’t be in business.
“It doesn’t just happen to other people it can happen to you tomorrow if you aren’t aware of what’s going on around you,” Joyce said. “Safety has to be number one.
Joyce described her son as happy go lucky who everyone loved. He enjoyed being around people and lived for music. He taught his brothers how to play guitar and was committed to whatever he was doing.
She said she misses her son.
“You have to pick up and try to carry on,” she said. “But him not being here…there’s a piece of me that’s gone with him.”
The most recent industrial fatality in Thunder Bay happened earlier in April at the construction site of the Thunder Bay Country Club.
Steve Mantis, spokesman for the Thunder Bay and District Injured Workers Support Group, said that incident as well as the two sawmill explosions in British Columbia showed that worker safety has done downhill.
“You could see in the ceremony today there was a lot of support for the family that lost a loved one here,” Mantis said. “People really feel that here. Thunder Bay is kind of a special place because we are much more naturally supportive of each other. I think you really saw that today.”
He said governments are advocating that workplace injuries are down but Mantis pointed out that fatalities have remained the same. Mantis believes that workers aren’t reporting their injuries because of pressure from higher ups.
He said workers who have received injuries feel isolated and it is difficult for them to go back to work or even go into the community. Having a ceremony like the on outside the Labour Centre helps those workers reconnect, he said.
