Seven years after her son died while on the job, the tears still flow for Renee Ozee.
The keynote speaker at the Day of Mourning service, held Thursday at the Workers Memorial, Ozee's voice choked with emotion as she recalled the day she got the news.
Just six weeks after his 23rd birthday, Scott Ozee was working on the roof of a house in White Rock when the gutter pipes he was carrying touched a high voltage power line sending a fatal jolt of electricity through his body.
The shock waves from his death still reverberate through the family. Ozee said she and her younger son, Liam, still think about Scott all the time and his loss is particularly difficult on special holidays and his birthday.
"Each day is a struggle, I'm getting a little better at holding back the tears, but it's still hard to believe what happened, to accept it," Ozee said. "I can't imagine anything that might make it easier."
About 100 people gathered for the event near the foot of Connaught Hill. Colour guards from Prince George Fire Rescue and the B.C. Corrections Branch were on hand, wreaths from the North Central Labour Council, United Steel Workers and the Public and Private Workers of Canada were put in place and flags at the site were at half mast.
And at the foot of the podium Patricia Saario had placed two photos of her husband, Mika Saario, 44, who was killed in July 2012 while dismantling a planer mill at Conifex's Fort St. James operation. In addition to his wife, he left behind their two boys.
"It was the last day, last cut and the catwalk collapsed on him," said Saario who was also in tears as Ozee spoke.
To her dismay, Saario's employer, Allen's Scrap and Salvage was never penalized. Saario also noted that among those who attended the service, not a single employer appeared to be in sight.
"Awareness, more safety on the job, more prevention, there's a lot of things that could be prevented," Saario said when asked what she would like to see people learn from the event.
Ozee said her son lost his life because "things at his company weren't up to par. It makes me angry and upset."
She urged both employers and workers to be more safety conscious.
"Workers first need to take responsibility for their own safety, exercising their right to refuse work when they think it's dangerous," Ozee said. "Employers need to make sure workers understand and follow the safety rules for the construction sites or any workplace and a first aid attendant must be present."
WorkSafeBC director of prevention field services Dan Strand delivered much the same message.
"We all have a shared responsibility for keeping our workplaces safe and healthy," Strand said.
