Provincial government releases latest data
A total of 165 workers died in the workplace in Alberta in the year 2023, according to data from the provincial government.
Last year, 89 workers died of occupational diseases, 39 died due to trauma and 29 succumbed to motor vehicle incidents, according to the Workers' Compensation Board of Alberta.
“Each loss has a profound impact on families, friends, employers and co-workers,” said the WCB.
The 2023 sum pushed the total number of workers who have died in the province in the past decade to 1,773, noted The Alberta Worker, citing provincial government data.
Source: The Alberta Worker
As high as the 2023 total might be, it’s far below the highest workplace fatality number Alberta has recorded in a single year in the past 10 years.
The highest numbers of workplace fatalities are:
- 188 in 2013
- 178 in 2021
- 169 in 2014
- 166 in 2017
- 165 in 2019
On average, 161.2 workers died in the workplace annually over the last decade.
What’s the leading cause of death among workers in Alberta over the past 10 years? Occupational diseases.
Source: The Alberta Worker
On average, 94.6 workers died of occupational diseases in the past decade.
“The largest number of fatalities due to occupational disease was in 2021, when it hit 109. Only one other year (2022) has passed the 100 mark over the last decade, which happens to be the year with the highest percentage (62.73%) of occupational disease fatalities,” explained independent journalist Kim Siever in The Alberta Worker’s report.
“The lowest percentage of occupational disease fatalities was 46.91% in 2018.”
