Let’s conduct a brief logical exercise. Try to follow: a) people get injured sometimes, b) people spend more of their time at work than anywhere else (assuming people spend at least eight hours a day at their job), and, finally, c) when something happens to a person, it is most likely to happen to them where they spend the majority of their time. Therefore, if a), b), and c) are true (which, clearly, they are), then people are likely to experience work-related injuries. But, as an Ontario personal injury lawyer is apt to know, the rates and types of injuries, as well as the people, regions, and industries that experience them, fluctuate.
Workplace Injury Across Canada
As mentioned above, there are significant regional differences in work-related injury rates. Nonetheless, Canada-wide data can give some insight into changes in workplace safety over time. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), a branch of the federal government, has collected data on workplace injury since the early 1980s. The following stats tabulate work-related injury for which workers received compensation.
- In 1987 the rate of workplace injury reached a peak of 48.9 (all rates represent the number of employed workers per 1,000 unless otherwise stated).
- Since ’87, however, the rate has consistently decreased; in 2010 (the most recent year for which data is available) it fell all the way to 14.7.
- In 2010, one in every 68 employed Canadians received compensation as the result of workplace injury or harm.
Commonality of Injury by Industry
As you surely expected, the highest rates of workplace injury occur in blue-collar industries. These occupations tend to involve the most physical exertion, and so naturally experience more injuries. In 2008, construction and manufacturing had the highest injury rates, at 24.5 and 24.0, respectively. The lowest rate was in the field of finance, at just 0.6. Notably, public administration workers had one of the highest rates, at 19.9.
Gender
Because blue-collar industries experience the highest rates of injury, and these industries are generally male-dominated, males tend to experience more workplace injury than women. In 2008, men experienced a rate of 18.8, while women experienced 11.2. Rates among both men and women have dropped significantly since 1994, though. Male workplace injury rates have decreased by 25.4 cases in that time, and female rates by 7.9.
Regional Variances
Due to the concentration of different industries across the provinces, there are surprisingly large differences in injury rates across Canada.
- Workplace Injury Rates by Province, 2010
- Manitoba: 24.4
- Saskatchewan: 23.5
- British Columbia: 21.5
- Newfoundland: 18.3
- Quebec: 18.2
- Nova Scotia: 15.4
- New Brunswick: 12.5
- Prince Edward Island: 11.5
- Alberta: 11.1
- Ontario: 9.1
Provinces with higher rural populations, like the Prairies and the Maritimes, have higher rates of workplace injury because these populations more frequently work in blue-collar occupations.
It’s important to know the data on injuries in the workplace, especially if you’ve sustained a serious work-related injury that requires compensation. But there’s so much more to workplace injury compensation than the numbers indicate. Contact an Ontario personal injury lawyer if you’re hoping to secure the pecuniary recompense you need.
Source:
http://well-being.esdc.gc.ca/misme-iowb/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid=20