Day of Mourning: Eugene Gutierrez' Story

Intro:

This podcast is brought to you by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.

Ashley:

Welcome to CCOHS podcasts. Today. We're joined by Eugene Gutierrez a speaker for Threads of Life. Eugene's father Bot was killed while working in an underground mine in 2017. Since then, Eugene's been honoring his father's memory by speaking to audiences about the critical importance of workplace safety.

Thanks for joining us today, Eugene.

Eugene:

Thanks for having me

Ashley:

To add some context for our listeners. You were recently a guest speaker at CCOHS and to say that our staff were moved by your story, is an understatement. Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about your father Bot and how you came to be involved with Threads of Life.

Eugene:

Certainly. Yeah, my father Bot, he was a 59-year-old mining surveyor, with 30 years experience under his belt, worked at a property up in Northern Ontario. And you know, he was very much a laid-back happy-go-lucky guy, you know, he was known for a smile and contagious laughter.

He was very knowledgeable and competent in the tasks that he performed. You know, he took his job seriously. But outside a work he found a lot of joy and comfort in gardening. Enjoyed fishing. He was incredible baker. And, you know, the last time I spoke with him, he was six months away from retirement, which was something that he looked forward to so much.

You know, he looked forward to spending more time doing the things he loved and spending more time with his family and two granddaughters. And so, you know, for us on November 27, 2017, it was a Monday morning, it was the start of a brand-new work week and, you know, he went to the mine to continue surveying a new level underground, you know, it was just it was typical run-of-the-mill routine work for him. There really wasn't anything out of the ordinary, you know, while at the same time while he was going into work, you know that same morning. I was actually in Toronto doing a client presentation and literally minutes before getting ready to present, you know, I receive a phone call which was peculiar because it you know, when I picked up it was from the mine manager. And then you know, I'm kind of thinking, why is this person calling me and then they passed the telephone. So, my mom, and I could hear by the tone of her voice that something was not right. There was clearly something wrong. And so, in that very moment. I received a news that, you know, my dad was killed at work and, you know, and it still feels like yesterday. I can hear. I can hear those words in my mind.

And what ended up happening was that while he was performing his surveying duties. A scoop tram operator had failed to see my father around a sharp corner underground and these scoop trams, I mean they are awfully large tractors on the ground, designed to extract and collect muck or debris from explosions from blasting, that's conducted under ground. So, suffice it to say, this large machine, it's notorious for having blind spots. And so, on top of that, it went around the corner, didn't see my dad, my dad was staring through a scope of his surveying equipment. And so, he was struck from behind and the front of the bucket severed his legs right at the knee, it was just an awful way to go. But they scooped him right in the front bucket, along with the muck and debris and it wasn't until the operator had unloaded the bucket on to another level that the operator had discovered what tragically happened as he found my father's body.

And so, I literally screamed in the hallway after receiving the news as to what happened. And yeah, I, you know, I collapsed on the ground, co-workers found me, you know, just tried to calm me down. But you know, I'll tell you that the person I was in that moment just died right there. And so, you know, I was faced with the challenges surrounding the investigation. My father's workplace fatality, my family's need for answers and resolution, and then just really dealing with my I own emotional grief in turmoil. I knew that I needed help and was not equipped to navigate this personal hell that I found myself in. And really, it was through the recommendation of our assigned WSIB worker, as I was seeking support resources and counseling that I was put in touch with Threads of Life. And really, from there, they were able to hear me out. And help me with what I needed support wise.

Ashley:

Thank you so much for sharing that you Eugene. I'm so sorry. Most people can only imagine how it feels to lose a parent when you're young. And with the layers of your dad being so close to retirement and being able to spend all this time with his family and his granddaughter's, and the way that he died. It's just, absolutely heartbreaking.

I'm so sorry for your loss and what you've been through.

CCOHS has a close relationship with Threads of Life. It's essentially our "Why?", preventing workplace tragedies is the reason that we exist. Tell us a little bit more about how Threads of Life supports families who are dealing with workplace tragedies. How did they get you the answers that you were seeking?

Eugene:

Yeah. That's a great. Question, I think what makes Threads of Life unique, and positioned well to support families, who have been impacted by workplace tragedies, is that they truly understand what it feels like. They've experienced the challenges, the grief, the emotional weight firsthand. And for families, like mine, who have suffered the kind of loss that we did, knowing that we weren't alone, and how we were feeling. Knowing that we weren't alone in this journey of ours made such a world of difference. Knowing that they could provide one-to-one peer support to those in need of someone who they can chat with, I know I did. I needed that person who, you know, would be able to listen and allow me to express their feelings and thoughts to. So, knowing that they provided a type of service.

Knowing that they had resources to help educate family members on just, like, what to expect with things like inquests, what's involved, or providing tools and strategies to help manage feelings of grief. Knowing that there was an existing supportive community of family members who were just very welcoming, very accepting, who knew the pain that we were dealing with. And in turn, would eventually become really an extension of our own family.

All of those things, I'd say, really provided me and my family, the healing, the comfort, and the guidance that we needed.

Ashley

You mentioned that you haven't been the same person since the day that this happened and in the wake of your experience with Threads of Life you were moved to get involved with the organization and share your story with people to help prevent future workplace tragedies. So, what's it been like to share your story with audiences across Canada?

Ashley

Honestly, I gotta say, I'm very grateful for every opportunity to share my experience with new people like yourselves and audiences across Canada, you know, there's a few reasons.

Eugene

Firstly, I look at it as an opportunity to allow me to honor the memory of my father. To ensure that his tragic horrible death was not in vain. To ensure that people number one. They never forget him and his story. Secondly, it allows me to, you know, it just really allows me to help save lives. I, you know, to help prevent other families from experiencing what we felt. What we, what we went through. And thirdly, it allows me the opportunity to represent and help provide exposure to frankly, an incredible organization that really has helped my family so much. And I can't imagine where I would be today without the support of Threads of Life.

Ashley

What's something that people misunderstand about workplace safety or about losing a loved one to a workplace tragedy?

Eugene

Hmm. Yeah, I think I'll answer it, I'll answer the second part the first and I'll come back to the first section. I'd say when it comes to losing a loved one to a workplace tragedy, because of the nature of the inquest, the investigation process, knowing that you don't get all the facts right away. That the information feels, at times, controlled. It's released at specific or different times. I don't think most people realize how often the family experiences the pain of the tragedy over and over and over again. It's not as simple as it happened, that loved one's gone, you go through the grieving, you try to heal, and you just move on. In reality, you could spend months, you know, you move forward a bit, you feel some of the wounds slowly heal until you get a new piece of information about what happened and then all of a sudden, you're like, starting the healing process all over again. You feel those scabs ripped open.

It's like a boomerang, right? It's like a boomerang, you know, you throw it, it swings around, it comes back. That's exactly what it feels like. That's how some family members will refer to the process. It just keeps coming in this awful cycle. So, there is that aspect.

To go back to the first part of the question. Misunderstandings about workplace safety, I think sometimes there's this perception that it's only really relevant to particular industries. Jobs that have obvious inherent physical dangers. So, you know, truth be told, workplace safety is relevant, really, no matter where you work. For someone who has worked, you know, I work in an office environment. Sure. Yeah. I don't go into work, having to wear a hard hat, or steel toe boots, right? But having said all that, things like your mental health, being cognizant about things like burnout. Those are just as important to, you know, to employees to be mindful of things that I think have been normalized over the years as being just, you know, oh, that's just part of the job. I, you know, it's part of the territory, but really like, those are matters that office employees, you know, people who, you know, working administrative or, you know, those types of roles, that those are things that they just need to take stock of and I guess, if nothing else, even if there should be a person that might think, oh, you know, nothing can happen to me, I'm pretty safe at work, the reality is that you can't ever know for sure. You don't know what's gonna happen. And so, by that token like, really, we can't afford to be complacent but as well, hey, we all have family members or friends that, you know, they could benefit from being reminded on the importance of workplace health and safety. So, I think that's a misunderstanding and hopefully that's something we can help to, you know, better, educate and correct.

Ashley

That's so true. And something that I took from what you said also about workplace safety not being something that just affects an individual it affects the people around you. It affects your family members. It affects other people's family members. Any final thoughts that you want to leave our audience with before we wrap up.

Eugene

Yes. I will say, I will say this. I'll keep it simple. You matter. We all matter to someone. You know, whether it's to a family member, whether it's to a friend, hey, it could even be a co-worker or what-have-you, right?

Whatever happens to us. And I think you kind of touched on it. There is this ripple effect. It does cause this ripple effect. And it can have long-lasting impacts on the people around us. So, really, all of us. We all need to do our part to look out for one another. And to take care of ourselves. So, I'll leave it at that.

Ashley

Eugene, thank you so much for being here and sharing your story with us. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Eugene

Great. Thank you for having me

Ashley

Threads of Life. Helps families of workplace tragedy along their journey of healing by providing unique family support programs and services. Their flagship fund-raiser, Steps for Life, follows the day of mourning and kicks off national Safety and Health Week in North America. More information about this event can be found at www.stepsforlife.ca and at www.ccohs.ca.

Thanks for listening!