While there has been a decline in workplace accidents in Saskatchewan, they still occur, and sometimes become fatal.

The National Day of Mourning was created to remember workers who were killed on the job. Each year, on April 28, the day is dedicated to paying respects to those individuals.

On Wednesday, the Humboldt and District Labour Council held it's ceremony with guest speaker Deborah Bryson-Sarauer.

She says that the committee chose her to speak due to her experiences both professionally and personally.

"My professional career involved working with families. A lot of the research and most of the focus for the National Day of Mourning is on the person who died and on the workplaces," she explained. "This committee started thinking about what happens to families after someone is killed in an accident."

Bryson-Sarauer's brother-in-law tragically passed away while on the job.

Having a fatality at work isn't something that is in the presence of mind every day, but she notes that we need to be aware of the possibility and have a safe working environment.

"We make a lot of assumptions when we go to work. That we're going to be safe and we're going to come home. We make those assumptions whether our family members are working in an industrial field, or farming, or in an office."

"Our workplaces need to be safe and our families and ourselves ensured that our employers and colleagues and so on are well-trained."

She added that consoling and caring for families involved in such tragedies is especially crucial.

"When someone dies at work, the families are not prepared," she said. "The workplace moves on, but we need to remember that forever, the family's dynamic has been changed and those people need our support as well."

The Humboldt ceremony concluded with the laying of wreaths, which Bryson-Sarauer described as 'very moving'.