Workplace Becoming Safer

Decline in worker injuries continues

Earlier this month, the federal government released its Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses: 2013 report. And for the 11^th year in a row, with the exception of 2011, there was a decline in the number of workers injured. Key findings from the report include:

• The total recordable cases (TRC) incidence rate of injury and illness reported by private industry employers declined in 2013 from a year earlier, as did the rate for cases of a more serious nature involving days away from work, job transfer, or restriction–commonly referred to as DART– marking the first decline in the DART rate since 2009.
• Manufacturing continued a 16-year trend in 2013 as the only private industry sector in which the rate of job transfer or restriction-only cases exceeded the rate of cases with days away from work. The rates for these two case types declined by 0.1 case in 2013 to 1.2 cases and 1.0 case per 100 full-time workers, respectively.
• The incidence rate of injuries only among private industry workers declined to 3.1 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2013, down from 3.2 cases in 2012. In comparison, the incidence rate of illness cases was statistically unchanged in 2013.

Read the full report.