TORONTO

Work may be less of a pain.

Statistics provided by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) Ontario show that time lost to employment-related accidents and injuries is on a sharp decline, leading to a freeze in employer premiums for the second year in a row.

Some employers say the numbers have reached a point where a WSIB rate cut is in order, while labour groups argue too many workers are being denied rightful coverage.

WSIB spokesperson Tonya Johnson said lost time claims fell to 41,500 in 2013, down from 62,000 in 2008, a drop of 33%.

“This could be the result of a number of factors, including tremendous strides by worker and employer groups, agencies like ours and the Ministry of Labour in strengthening prevention and health and safety awareness,” Johnson said in an e-mail. “The WSIB’s modernization of programs to get faster access for injured workers to specialized medical care and supports, as well as our new approaches to safe and faster workplace reintegration for injured workers to reduce the risk of the onset of permanent impairments have a positive impact on making Ontario’s workplaces safer.”

WSIB statistics show that the employee groups which lose the most time to workplace accidents and injuries are drivers, including public transit drivers, and health care assistants.

Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) said the WSIB numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Employers can reduce their compensation costs and become eligible for a WSIB rebate if they improve their injury record, he said.

“All too often employers hide claims by intimidating workers not to file a claim with the WSIB. There are also incentives that employers use to encourage workers not to file after an injury,” Ryan said. “The money at stake for many employers can add up to millions of dollars.

“There are no checks and balances in place to ensure that the drop in claims from a workplace equates to a drop in the injuries,” he said.

About a third of Ontario workers toil in industries not covered by the WSIB, he said.

Good employers such as Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation, two provincially-owned companies, invest in health and safety initiatives but others don’t take their responsibilities seriously, Ryan said.

The OFL hears from workers who are fearful for their safety on the job but afraid to speak out, and almost 400 such complaints have been filed over the last two years with the Ontario Labour Relations Board, Ryan said.

As for why drivers and health assistants lose the most time to workplace injuries, Ryan said it’s because of the nature of their work.

“If a driver has a back injury and cannot sit for extended periods of time it makes it hard for an employer to offer meaningful modified work in order to obtain a rebate, same holds true for a health care assistant who cannot assist in moving a patient,” Ryan said.

Patrick McManus, a spokesperson for the Construction Employers Council on WSIB, Health and Safety, and Prevention (CEC), said employers and the WSIB have taken great strides in recent years to make workplaces safer.

Employers invest more heavily in health and safety, and training and technology to help prevent accidents and injuries, McManus said.

For example, a new “working at heights” standard with related training is being developed in response to a common source of workplace accidents, he said.

Other frequent workplace injuries like lower back and hearing loss have been addressed as well, he said.

“It’s led to significant decline in injuries,” McManus said.

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2013 Lost Time WSIB Claims as a percentage of total claims for the year

(Ontario employers covered by WSIB: 287,797)

Most common work injury: sprains and strains (40%)

Leading cause of injury: overexertion (19%)

Most common injured part of body: low back (18%)

Most common profession where male workers lost work time to injury: Motor vehicle and transit drivers

Most common profession where female workers lost work time to injury: assisting occupations in support of health services

Most likely to report overexertion injury: males, people aged 45-49, those employed as motor vehicle and transit drivers

Most likely to report injury from fall on same level: females, people aged 50-54, those employed as motor vehicle and transit drivers

Number of workers who died in workplace accident fatalities: 82

Most common causes of workplace accident fatalities: motor vehicle accidents (35%), falls (16.8%) and struck by or caught in objects (11.6%)

Number of workers who died from occupational diseases: 158

Most common causes of occupational disease fatalities: cancer, including mesothelioma and lung cancer

Industry where employee most likely to die in workplace accident: construction, transportation, service

Most common gender and age of workers who died in workplace accidents: men (91.9%), those aged 45-49

Most workplace injury prone districts (allowed lost time claims per 10,000 employed workers): Prince Edward (42.2%), Dufferin (39.3%), Kawartha Lakes (37.1%), Lennox and Grenville (37.1%), Ottawa (36.4%) and Toronto (35.5%)

Least workplace injury prone district: Huron (16.1%)

(Source: wsibstatistics.ca)