Workplace deaths near record in 2013

Alberta workplace deaths increased dramatically in 2013 to a near-record provincial high of 188, led by a near doubling of fatalities caused by occupational disease.

The workplace death total falls just short of the 189 miners killed in the tragic Hillcrest mine disaster of 1914 — a year that saw a total of 221 employee deaths spawning the creation of the Workers’ Compensation Board.

Statistics quietly released on the Alberta Human Services website show 99 workers perished in 2013 of work-related diseases like black lung, asbestosis and mesothelioma incurred decades ago — near double the 58 similar deaths reported in 2012.

The WCB said Tuesday there is no official explanation for the spike in disease deaths. “It is not as a result of a new occupational disease or that we’ve changed anything we’re accepting,” said WCB spokeswoman Dayna Therien.

But Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said he believes the real numbers are significantly higher than those reported and called for a public inquiry to investigate the cause and prevention of workplace fatalities.

“The numbers are up, but we do believe it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said Tuesday. “We think that occupational cancers are still dramatically under-reported.”

An inquiry is necessary to determine the true scope of workplace exposure to carcinogens and to find ways to minimize exposure to them, McGowan said.

A 2010 Alberta Health Services study suggested more than 760 workplace cancers are developed in the province each year and there are about 2,700 Albertans currently living with cancer related to their jobs, he noted.

NDP critic Rachel Notley echoed concerns about the under-reporting of workplace diseases and blamed the situation on the government.

“We absolutely don’t have enough laws and regulations around workers education for them to even make the connection to a disease that is related to their workplace,” she said.

Human Services spokeswoman Lisa Glover said the spike in the reporting of workplace disease deaths could be as a result of work the government has undertaken to improve awareness of the issue in the medical community.

“Fatalities in the past that may not have been reported to WCB now are,” she said. “A large part of it is our work with the health practitioners to report it.”

Glover said government is working with industry to identify new hazards to ensure there won’t be an increase in fatalities in the future.

“This is unfortunately not a problem we’re going to solve overnight,” she said. “It is something we’ll have to continue to work with in the future. We do a lot of work with occupational disease prevention nowadays.”

Liberal critic David Swann called the spike in workplace deaths “very concerning,” but said the numbers would be even higher if the government included farm fatalities.

“We’re not documenting farm-related diseases and we don’t have occupational health and safety inspections or standards in the agriculture workplace,” Swann said.

Wildrose critic Gary Bikman said it is important that government track new diseases and implement preventive measures to prevent workplace disease deaths, but he also stressed the importance of ensuring jobsites are safe.

The number of workplace accident fatalities in 2013 was up slightly to 52 in 2013 from 51 reported the previous year.

The number of job-related motor vehicle accidents deaths also climbed marginally to 37 in 2013 from 36 in 2012.