TORONTO – The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is accusing the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of covering up 1,150 work-related fatalities over a nine-year period.
A statement released by OFL President Sid Ryan ahead of ceremonies in Ontario to commemorate the National Day of Mourning on Tuesday says a revised set of death and injury statistics compiled by the WSIB and released several days ago show only 2,225 workers had died over a nine-year period compared to 3,375 recorded under previous calculations.
“When you cross-reference recently released WSIB data, it would appear that the agency tasked with compensating workplace victims is trying to erase 1,150 fallen workers out of existence,” said Ryan.
“This is absolutely disgraceful behaviour from a public agency and it is an insult to the families of all of the workers who have died tragically due to work-related accidents or illnesses.”
Prior to 2013, Ryan said the WSIB provided death and injury statistics in a consistent manner through a “Monthly Monitor” report.
“Every one of the 1,150 fallen workers who have been scrubbed from the WSIB spreadsheets is a real person with a real spouse, real children, real friends and real colleagues,” said Ryan.
“No amount of statistical gerrymandering can conceal an alarming trend in workers being killed while trying to provide for their families.
Late last year, a WSIB Statistical Report for 2013 showed a 36 percent increase in on-the-job fatalities over the past five years.
In 2008, 64 workers lost their lives in traumatic incidents at work, but that number jumped to 82 in 2013.
The Ministry of Labour however said Ontario is the safest place to work in Canada, pointing out that injuries have dropped from 78,000 in 2008 to 54,000 in 2013.
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