Every year in Canada, almost 1,000 workers are tragically killed on the job from hazards and accidents. To commemorate those whose lives have been lost, the labour movement observes the National Day of Mourning each year on April 28, which renews its commitment to improving health and safety conditions for workers throughout the country.
The York University Staff Association (YUSA) asked me to create a poster that would convey the sense of loss from these deaths at work in Canada every year. I used a photo of a mother consoling her daughter, and in Photoshop, I saturated it in dark blue to instill a mood of sadness, loss and bereavement. At the top, I included a sentence that working people know is all too obvious: “Work Doesn’t Have to Kill.”