It was standing room only at an emotional event Tuesday in St. John’s to honour those killed or hurt on the job.

There was a child who was in her mother’s belly when her father was killed in a workplace accident more than a decade ago.

A mother whose son died when a coworker backed over him while working in Fort McMurray. A couple whose lives were shattered by a 30-foot fall.

“It’s very ironic that my husband sustained a life-altering injury trying to protect workers,” said guest speaker Angela Ryan, whose husband Darren was severely injured in 2019 while doing routine confined space gas testing on the Terra Nova FPSO.

“My question is who was protecting him?”