Greater vigilance needed to protect road workers, says NAPE president

The head of NAPE says more needs to be done to avoid tragic accidents like the one that claimed a worker's life two years ago.

Line painter Wayne Wall was struck and killed by a truck on the highway near Flat Bay, on Newfoundland's west coast, in July 2013 while he was placing road-painting signs.

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NAPE presidentJerry Earle said the accident points to other safety issues he's heard about from union members.

"When road work is being done and in a number of workplaces across Newfoundland and Labrador ... we do hear from workers expressing concern," he said.

"I believe, no matter what, we have to be ever vigilant to ensure that the best practices, policies and knowledge is put in place to prevent any type of event especially tragic events."

The province's transportation department has been charged with eight violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection with the Flat Bay fatality.

The matter is now before the courts, and Earleis urging government to be vigilant when it comes to work safety, in the interest of avoidingsimilar tragedies.

"With such a tragic event it's important that efforts are made to prevent it from every happening again," he said.

"When [workers] leave their loved ones they expect to return home after their day'swork."