The trend in workplace injuries and fatalities is going in the right direction in the North – at least, as of 2016.
The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission’s latest numbers, from that year, were tabled in its annual report in late March. The commission covers both the NWT and Nunavut, and presents its numbers combined.
In 2016, there was only one death in the WSCC’s jurisdiction, down from three in 2015 and five in 2014.
There were 2,168 accepted claims made to the commission in 2016, 826 of which were compensated for lost time at an average of 42.8 days of duration per claim.
This is down from 2,364 claims, 997 of which were paid for lost time at an average of 44 days per claim in 2014.
Men represented 70 per cent of total time loss claims and workers aged 45 to 55 proved to be the most vulnerable age group to workplace injury, representing 29 per cent of time loss claims.
The University of Regina released an analysis of Canada’s workplace injury and fatality numbers last year, looking at the numbers between 2010 and 2015.
The NWT and Nunavut scored the highest decrease of workplace deaths over that period, by 50 per cent, though those numbers would have been skewed by the tragic First Air plane crash in Resolute in 2011, which killed four crew, followed by two other fatal crashes by smaller aircraft in the Yellowknife area in the weeks after.
There hasn’t been much national analysis on workplace fatality and injury, as Statistics Canada hasn’t produced a national analysis of workers’ compensation and occupational health and safety data since 1996, according to a Globe and Mail investigation that was made public last fall.
The task of collecting this data falls to regional workers’ compensation boards.
Following that investigation, federal NDP labour critic Sheri Benson brought this up in Parliament.
“It is critical that the Liberals lead and collect new data to support evidence-based interventions in dangerous work to protect Canadian workers,” said Benson on Oct. 31, 2017. “Does the government know how many worker fatalities there have been in Canada this year? Of course not, as they do not have the information.”
While the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada does collate this data, Employment Minister Patty Hajdu announced in January that the provinces and territories were working towards more data harmonization on occupational health and safety.
Fact file: Top five NWT occupations with time-loss claims (percentage of total claims)
- Construction trades helpers and labourers – 8 per cent
- Carpenters – 5 per cent
- Janitors, caretakers and building superintendents – 5 per cent
- Heavy equipment operators (excluding cranes) – 5 per cent
- Air transport ramp attendants – 4 per cent
Fact file: Top five industries with time-loss claims (percentage of total claims)
- Public administration and defence – 36 per cent
- Building and infrastructure – 20 per cent
- Trades – 14 per cent
- Services – 13 per cent
- Transportation – 10 per cent
Fact file: Top five injury types needing time-loss compensation (percentage of total claims)
- Sprains, strains and tears – 36 per cent
- Soft tissue – 11 per cent
- Fractures – 9 per cent
- Bruises, contusions – 7 per cent
- Back pain – 7 per cent