Health and Safety Statistics for Ontario Updated April 30, 2009 A. Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses Statistics on injuries and illnesses are collected by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). The WSIB collects this information from insured workplaces that are required under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA) to report injuries and illnesses to the WSIB. The following statistics do not include injuries and illnesses from workplaces that are not covered by the WSIA. i) Injuries/Illnesses by Year of Injury The following chart lists the annual number of “lost-time injuries and illnesses” and “no lost-time injuries and illnesses” by “allowed” claim status as of March 31 of the following year. This chart will be updated annually to ensure consistency with the data published in the WSIB Annual Report and Statistical Supplement. Lost-time injuries/illnesses are when a worker loses time from work after the day of injury/illness and/or loses wages as a result of temporary or permanent work-related impairment. No lost-time injuries/illnesses are when a worker did not lose wages but incurred health care costs as a result of a work-related impairment. Injuries/Illnesses by Year of Injury 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Allowed Lost-Time Injuries/ Illnesses 100,726 104,154 98,359 95,568 93,234 90,397 89,734 83,179 80,863 78,256 Allowed No-Lost-Time Injuries/ Illnesses 178,786 190,549 184,999 185,161 182,780 184,437 187,670 177,581 172,122 163,315 Total Injuries/ Illnesses 279,512 294,703 283,358 280,729 276,014 274,834 277,404 260,760 252,985 241,571 Source: WSIB B. Work-Related Deaths i) Work-Related Deaths as Reported by Ministry of Labour (MOL) and WSIB The following chart lists deaths caused by traumatic injuries and other immediate causes on an annual basis as reported by both the MOL and the WSIB. In the chart below: Deaths investigated by the Ministry of Labour include deaths of workers from traumatic injuries and other immediate causes. The MOL does not investigate deaths due to traffic incidents or of workers not covered by the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Deaths reported by the WSIB include deaths of workers from traumatic injuries or other immediate causes whose employers have coverage under the WSIA. Both refers to deaths investigated by the MOL where the worker also has WSIB coverage. The total below has been adjusted to take this into account. Immediate causes include such things as infectious diseases and chemical toxicity. Deaths 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Ministry of Labour 63 68 71 63 71 45 54 62 50 46 WSIB 85 93 93 103 98 89 74 77 91 63 Both (48) (50) (56) (52) (47) (34) (44) (38) (41) (31) Total deaths from traumatic injuries and other immediate causes 100 111 108 114 122 100 84 101 100 78 Source: Ministry of Labour and WSIB ii) Breakdown of Selected Work-Related Deaths as Reported by MOL and WSIB Categories 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Self-employed or owner operator 8 9 9 7 17 11 10 16 4 11 Youth (under 25) 17 16 13 14 10 7 8 10 8 6 Women 5 5 8 14 5 7 7 6 8 4 Motor vehicle incidents (on public roads) 20 30 27 40 36 43 23 24 34 19 Federal jurisdiction (e.g. Canada Labour Code, Criminal Code) 14 7 5 5 11 9 1 4 7 5 iii) Total Work-Related Deaths The following chart lists the total work-related deaths comprised of traumatic injuries and other immediate causes of death, as well as occupational disease. In the chart below: Deaths from traumatic injuries and other immediate causes is taken from the "Total" in the table found under section B (i) Work-Related Deaths as Reported by the MOL and the WSIB. Deaths due to occupational disease are those claims allowed by the WSIB. Both refers to instances investigated by the MOL as an immediate cause of death, which were also allowed by the WSIB as death due to an occupational disease. The "Total" below has been adjusted to take this into account. Please note that none of the below "deaths" include deaths of workers who, at the time of death, were on 100% WSIB disability pensions. Total Deaths 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Deaths from traumatic injuries and other immediate causes 100 111 108 114 122 100 84 101 100 78 Deaths due to occupational diseases (WSIB claims allowed) 134 143 166 205 202 196 259 230 279 257 Both - - - (1) (3) - - - - Total deaths 234 254 274 318 321 296 343 331 379 335 Source: Ministry of Labour and WSIB C. Injury Rates per 100 Workers The MOL and the WSIB have updated the method of reporting injury rates to more accurately reflect the true lost-time injury rate in Ontario workplaces. The size of the estimated workforce, which is used to calculate the injury rate, has been adjusted. Previously, the MOL used the total estimated number of workers in Ontario to calculate the lost-time injury rate. The estimated number of workers covered by the WSIB is now used for this calculation. This chart is updated annually to reflect the data published in the WSIB Annual Report and Statistical Supplement. 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Allowed lost-time injuries 100,726 104,154 98,359 95,568 93,234 90,397 89,734 83,179 80,863 78,256 Estimated number of workers (in millions) covered by the WSIB1 3.9 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.6 Lost-time injury rate 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.7 Source: 1 Derived from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH), Statistics Canada