Workers in Saskatchewan were safer, despite the number of deaths remaining nearly the same.
According to the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WBC), the workplace injury rate in the province for 2020 was 4.46 per 100 workers, which is a 10 per cent decreases from 2019.
That wasn’t the only decrease as the time loss injury rate decreased to 1.78 per 100 workers, a decrease by .08 per cent, from the 2019 rate of 1.86 per 100 workers.
The 2020 time loss injury rate is the lowest rate in more than a decade.
“Although the reductions in the Total injury and Time Loss injury rates are a step in the right direction,” says Minister Responsible for WCB, Don Morgan, “Every workplace injury in Saskatchewan is one too many. We cannot become complacent in our efforts to make all workplaces safe.”
The total amount of claims have also decreased with just shy of 17,950 claims in 2020, compared to over 21,400 in 2019.
There were fewer workers covered in 2020; however, as 402,000 were covered, a decrease from the over 433,000 in 2019.
Although time loss and total injury rates have seen a slow and steady decline, there remains a consistent number of serious injuries and fatalities (approximately 2,500 annually) that are accepted by the WCB. There were 34 workplace fatalities in 2020, compared to 36 in 2019. This is a decrease of six per cent.These deaths occurred in a variety of Saskatchewan industries.
“Each of the 34 deaths that occurred in 2020 has had a shattering impact on the loved one’s family and community,” says the WCB’s CEO Phil Germain. “We must continue to focus on preventing workplace deaths and serious injuries and eliminate this suffering in our province.”
