Everyone working in B.C. has the right to a safe workplace.

Not everyone has one, however, as the families of five workers on a Langley mushroom plant found out two years ago. Three men were killed, two left severely disabled, in a toxic event in a small room.

Charges were laid Monday against four supervisors or company directors, but the charges can only indirectly protect other workers. Too many workers in B.C. don't know their own rights. They may not have much education. They may not speak English as their first language, or at all. They may simply be too young to worry about risking life or limb.

Those vulnerable workers are more likely to be taking exactly the jobs where poor safety precautions can be fatal.

The B.C. government should make it a priority to crack down on unsafe employers from Tsawwassen to the Peace River. Fines should be hefty, and they should be levied before anyone is buried. There needs to be more outreach - in more languages, in more venues, and more often. Perhaps some of the budget dedicated to telling us how great things are going could be put aside for this purpose.

But workers can't trust the government to do everything for them. They need to stand up and fight for their own rights. B.C.'s dwindling unions could be a big part of this, if they would look outside their traditional bailiwicks and try to aid workers in casual, part-time jobs or in smaller workplaces.

We also hope that good employers, the ones who do try to keep their workers safe, will be speaking out on this issue, and helping to shame their less-ethical colleagues into acting better.

If all employers were as ethical as most, there'd be little need for the other players to get involved.