Image from WorkSafeBC's Skidder Accident Investigation slideshow

Greg Shoesmith was only 22 when he died at work, operating a logging skidder near Barriere, BC.

His story is featured in a new book called Forget Me Not – Canadian Stories of Workplace Tragedy from the Families’ Perspective.

What happened?

As Greg drove his empty skidder along a ridge, he hit a strip of shale with his skidder’s right track. The skidder began to slide.

“Immediately below the ridge was a 1.8 metre embankment. Momentum sent the skidder over the embankment. It rolled over onto its roof, back on its track, and onto its roof again before finally righting itself,” reads the family’s story, written by Scott Williams.

Book sales to raise money for families

I heard about this unique book: Forget Me Not – published by Threads of Life – from Leslie Heatherington, who offered me a chance to read “Losing Greg” – one of 21 stories in the book – in advance of the book’s official launch on April 28 on the Day of Mourning to remember workers who have lost their lives.

Jennette Shoesmith, Greg's little sister

A goal of Forget Me Not is to be a wake-up call to create safer workplaces for all, including the most vulnerable. It includes stories from the families of people who died while working in mining, industrial, construction, electrical, auto shop, elevator, rail, fisheries, recreational, forestry, transportation, maintenance, agricultural, carpentry, iron working, municipal, and groundskeeping.

Leslie and the folks at Threads of Life got in touch with me via email after reading my recent blog post about Steps for Life – a memorial fundraising walk for families.

Would you like a free copy of Forget Me Not?

Leslie also offered me two copies of the book: one to keep and one to give away. If you would like to have a free copy of this book, please comment below or tweet a link to this post on Twitter using the hashtag #forgetmenotbk

All names will be entered into a random draw on April 28, 2011 at noon.