About 21 workers a year killed, over 1,000 injured province-wide
Work-related motor vehicle incidents account for 33 per cent of all work-related traumatic deaths in British Columbia, making it the leading cause of traumatic workplace deaths in the province.
On average each year, 21 workers are killed and another 1,339 are injured and miss time from work because of work-related crashes.
"When workers are injured in a motor vehicle crash, they are typically more severely injured and off work longer than workers injured at work in other ways. Taking steps to reduce the risks to your drivers will help you keep your workers safer, your costs down and your vehicles/trucks on the road," said Mark Ordeman, WorkSafeBC's acting manager of industry and labour services for transportation and occupational road safety.
Three sectors account for close to three-quarters of work-related motor vehicle incidents injury claims from 2012 to 2016, according to WorkSafeBC.
The transportation and warehousing sector had 34 per cent of crashes overall. Claims from the general trucking subsector account for 14 per cent of all motor vehicle incident claims.
The service sector had 26 per cent of crashes overall, with 10 per cent of all motor vehicle incident claims in the health care and social services subsector.
Also, the construction sector had 10 per cent of crashes.
"Every person should make it home safely from work at the end of the day. For those who drive for work, being safe in your vehicle and on the road is an important part of worker safety," said Harry Bains, B.C. minister of labour. "Work-related motor vehicle accidents can be prevented and I encourage all drivers to take extra care while on the road to help ensure more British Columbians return home safely every day. Let us make our province the safest place in Canada to go to work."
Road Safety At Work Week runs March 5 to 9.
