“I thought we had more time.”
Every year on International Worker's Memorial Day, Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) issue a press release to tell the public about the pain of losing a loved one as a result of something happening to them at work, at the fault of greedy bosses who pay no heed to H&S legislation and their duty of care for all their employees.
FACK was established in July 2006, by and for families of people killed by the gross negligence of business employers,
“I thought we had more time.”
A simple sentence written by Anthea on her husband Peter’s first missed birthday. But words which wrap within them a whole world of pain. Because, Peter had died in an incident at his workplace a matter of weeks before.
Some 21 years before this, Anthea and Peter had seen their 17 year-old son Dan leave for work, and not return home. He had been sent on to a fragile roof, without supervision, less than a week into his working life.
A decision by his employer which ended his all too short life.
One woman should never ever have to bear such loss.
When our time with our loved ones is cut so brutally short, FACK family members can remain held captive in a moment in time.
In 2016 an explosion at Didcot Power Station claimed the lives of 4 men: husbands, dads, brothers, sons. Their families describe themselves as being “stuck in the happenings of 2016”. Because, eight years on from the explosion, they remain waiting for the investigation to conclude, waiting for the prosecution decisions to be made, waiting for answers as to how and why their loved ones died.
And they are far from alone. Ann’s husband John was sent to work in an inherently unsafe environment by his employer.
She says:
“After 4 very long, difficult, emotional and stressful years we are very upset, disappointed and confused…who knows how long it will take for us to discover who really is responsible and who will be held accountable for the loss of two hard working men's’ lives.”
This interminable wait for answers leads to justice delayed and denied; trauma extended and compounded.
Getting those answers isn’t a point in time that ends our pain. Because a FACK family member can also find themselves transported back to a moment in time. Time and time again. Sometimes very many decades on.
Joyce lost her dad in a fire at work in 1968. She was just 8 years old. The trauma of that grips her to this day. It is often fuelled by triggers such as fire reports on TV, or the terror of the smell of smoke hitting her on leaving some shops, and realising there was a fire on the street where her daughter lived. She describes her C.PTSD as being in full flight that night.
Convinced she had
seen her daughter for the last time. She collapsed in her arms when she answered her door. And her daughter had to help her breathe again.
Judith describes reliving over-and-over again that moment in time that she received “the call”:
“It happened on Friday, every Friday I look at the clock and it’s the time I got the call. I relive every minute, and I know others do too. I didn’t leave you until I had to.”
That last time we left them.
The last time we spoke to them.
The last time they walked out that door.
The last time we heard them belt out that tune.
The first time we realised they weren’t coming home.
The point in time we will have been on this earth longer without them, than with them.
All the times we wish they were still here to share.
Those who advocate for work-bereaved families are often told they are a family’s angels, or superheroes, and that without their support, the journey would have been all the tougher, in some cases even un-survivable.
So as we take time today to renew our commitment to fight like hell for the living, we thank those who expound energy each and every day to ensure loved ones return home from work safe and sound. You are life-savers in more ways than one.
We FACK families thought we had more time.
And so we implore others that the time is now!
The time is now for those employers who have not yet done so, to wake up to their responsibilities; for politicians to bolster protections; for the climate crisis to be tackled; for regulators to be given the resources to proactively and preventatively inspect; and for future generations of loved ones to be given more time, all of their time.
Remember our dead. And, please, please, continue to fight like hell for the living.
FACK was established in July 2006, by and for families of people killed by the gross negligence of business employers,
Founder Members of FACK:
Dawn and Paul Adams – son Samuel Adams aged 6 killed at Trafford Centre,10th October 1998
Linzi Herbertson -husband Andrew Herbertson 29, killed at work on 30th January 1998
Mike and Lynne Hutin – son Andrew Hutin 20, killed at work on 8th Nov 2001
Mick & Bet Murphy – son Lewis Murphy 18, killed at work on 21st February 2004
Louise Adamson – brother Michael Adamson 26, killed at work on 4th August 2005
Linda Whelan – son Craig Whelan 23, (and Paul Wakefield) killed at work on 23rd May 2004
Dorothy & Douglas Wright – son Mark Wright 37, killed at work on 13th April 2005
For more information and to support FACK, contact Greater Manchester Hazards Centre: mail@gmhazards.org.uk
Source: Families Against Corporate Killers
