Steps for Life Durham raising awareness and funds for those impacted by workplace tragedies

Steps for Life raises awareness and funds for those impacted by work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses.

The Durham walk takes place on May 5 in Pickering.

Co-chair of the Durham committee Dermott Barrett says they will hold their 14th walk this year.

“In Durham we started our walk in 2011… over that time we’ve raised approximately $250,000,” Barrett said.

Steps for Life is the top fundraising event for Threads of Life, a national charity which helps thousands of people across the country cope with work-related fatalities, serious injuries and occupational disease.

“That organization provides family support, psychiatric support, stress support [and] all kinds of things for the surviving members of those tragedies,” explained Barrett.

Steps for Life is also an opportunity for families to honour lives lost and lives changed by these workplace incidents.

“My father spent almost 37 years working at General Motors in Oshawa , from the time he was 17-years-old until he had to retire for health reasons at age 55,” said CK DesGrosseilliers, Steps for Life Durham Region spokesperson. “When he started it was not unusual to have asbestos on brake pads, despite the known risks. Dad started experience symptoms of bladder cancer when he was just 36-years-old. He fought it for the next 40 years until his death at 77.”

Steps for Life also reminds everyone of the importance of health and safety on the job.

“Pain, embarrassment, and overwhelming fear filled those years – for him and us,” DesGrosseilliers said. “No profit is worth a human life. And we need to call on our employers to be safe and keep us safe.”

Steps for Life is a family-focused, five-kilometre walk planned for May 5 at OPG Nuclear Information Centre at 1675 Montgomery Park Road in Pickering.

To register, donate, or learn more, click here.

Photo courtesy Steps for Life Durham – Facebook