Jordan Junger’s death demands prevention, not silence

My wife and I were out for a walk when we heard the explosion. The sirens that followed soon confirmed that a serious incident had occurred nearby. On learning of the loss of Jordan Junger, we want to express our deepest condolences to his family, his co-workers at Kanata Wheels, and his employer, Tariq In’airat. Losing a young life in the prime of his career is a devastation no family should endure. There is no greater tragedy than someone dying while simply trying to earn

a living. That said, we must be careful not to let the term “freak accident” become permission to ignore the root cause or steps that could have prevented the tragedy. While the tire rupture itself may have been unpredictable, a robust safety culture recognizes that all workplace fatalities are preventable—even if the initiating event cannot be. It may have been impossible to prevent that steel belt shift, but it does not follow that it was impossible to prevent death or serious injury. Proper protective equipment,

safer inflation procedures, secondary containment barriers, or additional training on high-risk tire work could have changed the outcome. Crucially, there is no connection between an accident’s likelihood and our ability to prevent it. A rare accident is not an unpreventable one. Yet, accepting rare incidents as “inevitable” erodes the motivation to implement the very steps that could have saved a life. Instead of asking “how could this happen?”, we owe it to Jordan and every worker to ask the harder question: “what more could we

have done?” Daniel Boulet, Kanata, ON Do you have an opinion or idea you want to share with thousands of smart Ottawa Citizen readers? Good news, you can write to us too, at letters@ottawacitizen.com Here are a few basic guidelines to keep in mind: How to submit an Ottawa Citizen Letter to the Editor

Jordan Junger, Kanata Wheels, Tariq In’airat, workplace safety, tire rupture, workplace fatalities, safety culture, Ottawa