One in 10 Severe Injuries Occurs in the Workplace

Some very interesting facts that have been collected CIHI.

A new report released today by the Canadian Institute for Health information (CIHI) shows that 677 people across Canada were admitted to hospital because of major trauma experienced in their place of work, representing 10% of all major trauma injury hospitalizations in the 15 to 64 age group in 2002–2003. The number of workplace-related injury hospitalizations has remained relatively stable over the past three years; there were 652 incidents reported in 2000–2001, and 678 in 2001–2002. In 2002–2003, falls were the leading cause (43%) of serious injuries suffered in the workplace, followed by those caused by vehicular incidents (20%).

Provincially, workplace injuries as a percentage of all trauma cases ranged from a low of 5% in Ontario to a high of 10% in Alberta. Most provinces saw an increase in the number of major injuries experienced at work between 2000 and 2003, with the exception of Ontario, which saw an 8% decrease during the same time period, and New Brunswick, which recorded a small decrease. Length-of-stay in hospital varied considerably by province, with the shortest (12 days) in Nova Scotia and the highest (25 days) in New Brunswick.