Twenty Nova Scotians died at work, or because of their work in 2021.
According to numbers released by the Workers Compensation Board and the province, five died from acute traumatic injuries on the job, all in the fishing and construction sectors.
Fifteen of the deaths were classified as chronic, with seven related to occupational diseases and eight because of health-related issues.
In 2020, 18 people died from acute injuries, the highest total since 2008.
WCB Nova Scotia CEO Stuart MacLean says even one death is one too many.
“It’s just far too many. Certainly, we want to do better. Anytime you have a fatality, it’s a failure of the system in my estimation,” says MacLean.
MacLean says he’s proud of the progress in the fishing sector over the last few years, as the safety association has been active with man overboard drills and education on wharves.
“We’re having good progress, but we still had fatalities last year. That’s a reminder that we’re not done, and there’s still room for improvement.”
MacLean says workers compensation claims in the industry are down 50 per cent over the last few years.
One of the first steps to knowing how to prevent injuries in your workplace is to understand where and why they’re happening. Our Risk Mapping Tool can be used to help identify, assess, and control injury hazards, no matter where you work: https://t.co/FJ3htwj7ky pic.twitter.com/kstHvWGPsf
— Work Safe. For Life. (@WorkSafeForLife) January 20, 2022
