Update On Alberta’s Health & Safety Statistics

Every year, governments across Canada publish workplace health and safety statistics. These are typically a tabulation of injuries, occupational diseases and fatalities. Statistics can be a helpful tool to observe trends and identify the nature of workplace incidents. Here’s a look at some of the numbers from Alberta, as reported by Alberta Employment, Immigration & Industry and the Workers Compensation Board. Complete details can be found in the references cited below.

When considering these figures, it must be remembered that there are real people behind the numbers – dead, injured or ill.

Fatalities

On average, a worker dies in Alberta every two-and-a-half days. There were 154 workplace fatalities in 2007, the highest number in recent years. Workplace incidents accounted for 47 fatalities (30.5%), occupational disease for 63 deaths (41%), and another 44 fatalities (28.5%) were due to motor vehicle incidents.¹ These figures represent the number of fatality claims accepted by the WCB in 2007. Occupational diseases are usually the result of prior exposures.

Time-Lost Claims

In 2007, there were 35,900 new time-lost claims in Alberta (these used to be called “lost-time” claims). These were injuries or cases of occupational disease which resulted in one or more days away from work, beyond the day of the incident.

The time-lost claim rate takes into account the number of hours worked over the year. For 2007 the time-lost claim rate in Alberta was 2.1 claims per 100 person-years worked, the lowest in the past ten years. This rate has been dropping annually in recent years.

Time-lost claims are tabulated by the WCB in a number of different ways: by age, gender, occupation, industry, part of body injured, nature of injury or disease, type of event or exposure, and duration of disability. Here are a few highlights from the 2006 summary²:

• Over half of time-lost claims and disabling injuries occurred to workers during the first year with their employer – yet, this group represents only about one-quarter of the workforce.

• A wide range of occupations were involved in time-lost claims. The most common occupations were labourers and helpers (11% of claims), sales and service workers (10%), and transportation equipment operators (10%).

• By far, traumatic injuries and disorders such as sprains, strains, surface wounds and fractures were most common (90% of claims).

• The trunk (includes back, spine, and spinal cord) was the most commonly injured body part (38% of claims), followed by the upper extremities with 23% of claims (wrists, hands, fingers).

• Overexertion was the most common event leading to injury (21% of claims).

• There were eight times as many claims due to assaults and violent acts as compared to fires and explosions – an increasing trend. Health care workers have the highest number of claims arising from assaults and violent acts.

• About 20% of claims result in disability for 2 days or less. 25% of injuries and diseases result in more than a month away from work.

Time-lost claims tell only part of the story. About four times as many medical aid injuries, which are not classified as time-lost, can occur in any given year. According to WCB statistics, there were almost 143,000 medical aid injury claims in 2007.³

More Than Just Numbers

Let’s remember the words of Guy Kerr, President and CEO of Alberta’s WCB: ‘These are not just statistics – they are our children, spouses, friends and neighbours’.⁴ We must never lose sight of this, and must continue to improve health & safety in every workplace.

Useful References

1. Occupational Fatalities in Alberta: 1997 – 2006, Alberta Employment, Immigration & Industry, Data Development and Evaluation, October 2007.
2. Occupational Injuries and Diseases in Alberta: Lost-Time Claims and Claim Rates - 2006 Summary, Alberta Human Resources and Employment, Summer 2007.
3. Workers Compensation Board of Alberta – 2007 Annual Report, www.wcb.ab.ca
4. Workers Compensation Board of Alberta – 2004 Annual Report, www.wcb.ab.ca
5. Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, www.awcbc.org; (Includes statistics from jurisdictions across Canada)