Workplace fatalities increased in 2014

In 2014, 919 workers died on the job — that’s 2.5 workers every day — according to recently released statistics from the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada. This figure is up from 902 in 2013.
Nearly six in 10 (58.9 per cent) fatalities were due to occupational disease in 2014, the remaining due to injury.

Most fatalities occured in construction (232), followed by manufacturing (158), government services (98), transportation and storage (73) and mining, quarrying and oil wells (63).

Fatalities among young workers aged 15 to 24 are on the rise. In 2014, 38 young workers died on the job, compared to 30 in 2013, 32 in 2012 and 34 in 2011. Injuries are also up very slightly with 30,582 loss-time claims for young workers in 2014, compared to 30,380 in 2013.

Overall, lost-time claims have been decreasing steadily for 14 years. In 2014, the total number of lost-time claims across Canada was 239,643, down from 241,933 in 2013.

The industry with the highest number of injuries across Canada is health and social services, logging 41,141 lost-time claims. Manufacturing saw the second highest number of lost-time injuries (35,198) followed by construction (27,003), retail (26,289) and transportation and storage (16,862).

More workers were injured in Manitoba in 2014 than any other jurisdiction. Manitoba’s injury frequency rate was 3.17, followed by the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (2.33) and British Columbia (2.28).

Ontario saw the lowest number of injuries (0.92), beating New Brunswick (1.15) and Alberta (1.31).