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Regina, Sask., April 13, 2023 – The Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) released its injury statistics today, announcing that workplace Total injury rates decreased in 2022. The workplace total injury rate for 2022 was 4.33 per 100 workers, a five per cent decrease from 2021. From 2009 to 2022, the WCB’s Total injury rate has decreased by 53.54 per cent.

 

“As a province, our Total injury rate has decreased over the past decade thanks to the efforts of workers, employers and safety leaders across the province,” says Don Morgan, Minister Responsible for the WCB. “Despite a decline in the total injury rate, we must continue promoting workplace safety so that every worker comes home safe at the end of the day.”

 

For the third year in a row, 90 per cent of workplaces across the province had zero injuries and zero fatalities. While the Total injury rate decreased in 2022, the Time Loss injury rate increased slightly to 2.04 per 100 workers. This is an increase of 0.49 per cent from the 2021 rate of 2.03 per 100 workers.

 

“In 2022, we had 184 additional time loss claims in various industries compared to 2021, which is a 2.31 per cent increase,” says WCB CEO Phillip Germain. “Also, the 2022 Saskatchewan workforce increased by 1.93 per cent from 2021. The net result is a 0.49 per cent increase in the Time Loss injury rate due to the larger increase in time loss claims relative to the workforce increase.”

 

2022 injury claims status:

There remains a consistent number of serious injury and fatality claims – approximately 2,400 annually – accepted by the WCB each year.

 

There were 39 workplace fatalities in 2022, compared to 31 in 2021. This is an increase of 25.81 per cent. These deaths occurred in a variety of Saskatchewan industries. Exposure to asbestos made up 16 of the fatality claims accepted in 2022. Six fatalities in 2022 were due to motor vehicle collisions.

 

“It is so tragic that 39 workers in Saskatchewan had their lives cut short because of a work-related injury. The impact of losing a loved one is felt most at home, but that devastating impact also extends into our communities and our province,” says WCB chair Gord Dobrowolsky. “Without question, we must continue to work together to make workplaces in Saskatchewan safe. It’s only together that we can create safe workplaces where lives are never at risk and loved ones always return home safely.”

 

To help address workplace injuries and fatalities, WorkSafe Saskatchewan, the partnership between the WCB and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, has released a new five-year Fatalities and Serious Injuries Strategy that builds on the success of the first strategy that ended in 2022. The new strategy lays out a direction for working together with stakeholders to address high-risk industries and occupations that are resulting in workplace fatalities and injuries.

 

Learn more about the strategy at worksafesask.ca/fatalities-and-serious-injuries.

 

“As a province, we have a shared goal to eliminate workplace injuries. We have seen improvements in our Total injury rate, which means more workers have remained safe on the job,” says Dobrowolsky. “I look forward to the day when Saskatchewan has no fatalities and the lowest injury rate in the country. This is possible if we work together.”

 

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Media contact:

Carolyn Van der Veen

Director, Strategic Communications

Saskatchewan WCB