Nearly 19 workers will die on the job this week: stats

Nearly 19 workers will die on the job this week and another 4,718 employees will be off work due to a workplace-related illness or injury, statistics show.

The statistics of the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, compiled by the Canadian Labour Congress for Monday’s National Day of Mourning to remember men and women who die on the job, put Canada offside with “almost every other OECD country where the incidence of workplace fatalities is declining,” according to the CLC.

In Canada, the number of deaths linked to workplace incidents has actually increased by 29% over the past 20 years, from 756 in 1993 to 977 in 2012. Meanwhile, 245,365 injuries in the workplace in 2012 were serious enough to force people to take time off work.

CLC notes that monitoring of labour and safety standards has been “drastically cut back or even replaced by ‘voluntary’ industry compliance.”

Here are other key facts to remember of the National Day of Mourning, courtesy of the CLC:

 Photo: Facebook (United Steelworkers)