2019 annual report - Occupational injuries amongst employees under federal jurisdiction
On this page
- List of abbreviations
- List of charts
- Overview
- Industry sectors under federal jurisdiction
- Highlights: the federal jurisdiction work injury and fatality rates
- Occupational injuries amongst employees under federal jurisdiction by industry sector, 2019
- Occupational injuries amongst employees under federal jurisdiction by province or territory, 2019
- Annex 1: List of terms
- Annex 2: Data charts
Alternate formats
2019 annual report - Occupational injuries amongst employees under federal jurisdiction [PDF - 2.01 MB]
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List of abbreviations
- AIRT
- Air Transportation
- BANK
- Banking and Banks
- BRID
- Interprovincial Infrastructure (Bridges, Tunnels, Canals, and Causeways)
- BROAD
- Broadcasting (Television, Radio, and Internet)
- COMM
- Communications
- DIFR
- Disabling Injury Frequency Rate
- EAHOR
- Employer's Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report
- ENER
- Energy, Mining and Mineral Processing
- FEED
- Feed, Flour and Seed
- FIFR
- Fatal Injury Frequency Rate
- GRAIN
- Grain Handling and Grain Elevators
- INDG
- Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations
- LONG
- Longshoring, Stevedoring, Port, Harbour Operations and Pilotage
- OHS
- Occupational Health and Safety
- PIPE
- Pipeline Transportation
- POST
- Postal Services and Postal Contractors
- PUBS
- Federal Public Services, Public Service Departments and Crown Corporations
- RAIL
- Rail Transportation
- ROAD
- Road Transportation
- WATER
- Water Transportation (Shipping and Ferries)
List of charts
- Chart 1.1 Percentage of occupational disabling injuries within the federal jurisdiction by industry sector, 2019
- Chart 1.2 Percentage of employees within the federal jurisdiction by industry sector, 2019
- Chart 1.3 Percentage of total hours worked within the federal jurisdiction by industry sector, 2019
- Chart 1.4 Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR) by federal jurisdiction industry sector, 2019
- Chart 1.5 Percentage of fatal work injuries in the federal jurisdiction by industry sector, 2019
- Chart 1.6 Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR) by federal jurisdiction industry sector, 2019
- Chart 2.1 Percentage of disabling injuries by province/territory, 2019
- Chart 2.2 Percentage of federal jurisdiction employment by province/territory, 2019
- Chart 2.3 Percentage of total hours worked by province/territory, 2019
- Chart 2.4 Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR) by province/territory, 2019
- Chart 2.5 Percentage of fatal work injuries by province/territory, 2019
- Chart 2.6 Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR) by province/territory, 2019
- Chart 3.1 (a): Federally regulated industry sectors with the top 3 highest 2019 DIFR value, 2015 to 2019
- Chart 3.1 (b): Federally regulated industry sectors with the top fourth to seventh highest 2019 DIFR value, 2015 to 2019
- Chart 3.2 (a): Federally regulated industry sectors with the top 3 highest 2019 FIFR value, 2015 to 2019
- Chart 3.2 (b): Federally regulated industry sectors with the top fourth to seventh highest 2019 FIFR value, 2015 to 2019
Overview
The data reported in this publication comes from the Employer's Annual Hazardous Occurrence Report (EAHOR) submitted by federally regulated employers to the Labour Program each year. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulations under the Canada Labour Code stipulate this reporting requirement.
Under the OHS regulations of the Canada Labour Code, federally regulated employers are required to submit the EAHOR report, no later than March 1 for the preceding 12-month period ending December 31, even if there are no hazardous occurrences to report. The EAHOR records the total number of disabling injuries, deaths, minor injuries, occupational diseases and other hazardous occurrences that have occurred in federally regulated workplaces.
Failure to comply with the requirement to submit the EAHOR by March 1 may result in a general inspection of workplaces to determine if there are other areas of non-compliance with obligations under the Canada Labour Code.
This publication presents both information and analysis on the Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR) and the Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR) for 2019. It also provides the statistics at the level of the industry sector and province/territory. The definitions of these rates and other relevant terms are found in the List of Terms of this publication. Information on all injury rates and historical data dating back to 2008 are available at the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal.
Industry sectors under federal jurisdiction
According to the Canada Labour Code, federal jurisdiction encompasses any work and/or undertaking or business that is within the legislative authority of the Parliament of Canada. This includes all work deemed to be for the common good of at least 2 provinces and outside the exclusive authority of provincial legislatures. For a detailed list of federally regulated industries and workplaces visit the webpage.
Highlights: the federal jurisdiction work injury and fatality rates
- There were a total number of 47,299 injuries (disabling injuries, fatal injuries and minor injuries) reported in 2019. This is a 4.2% decrease from 2018 (49,366)
- Of the total number of injuries in 2019, 20,850 (44.1%) were disabling injuries, 66 (0.14%) were fatal injuries and 26,383 (55.8%) were minor injuries. All 3 types of injuries decreased from 2018
- The 2019 federal jurisdiction DIFR is 9.39. This is an increase of 1.0% from the 2018 DIFR of 9.3. It is the third-highest DIFR in the past 10 years (2010 to 2019)
- Of the 7 industry sectors with a DIFR higher than the 2019 federal jurisdiction DIFR, Feed, Flour and Seed underwent the most noted increase of 58.2%, rising from 7.65 in 2015 to 12.10 in 2019. See Chart 1.4 for the DIFR values for all industry sectors and Charts 3.1 (a) and Chart 3.1 (b) for historical trends for the 7 industry sectors with the highest 2019 DIFR values
- Overall, 10 of the 16 industry sectors under federal jurisdiction reported fatalities in 2019. The Road, Air, and Rail Transportation, Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations, and Federal Public Services, Public Service Departments and Crown Corporations industry sectors reported fatalities in every year from 2015 to 2019
- The 2019 federal jurisdiction FIFR is 29.64. This is a decrease of 13.4% from the 2018 FIFR of 34.24. This results from a decrease of 10 fatalities in the Road Transportation industry from 47 in 2018 to 37 in 2019. It is the third-highest FIFR in the past 10 years (2010 to 2019)
- The 3 industry sectors with the highest FIFR values for 2019 were Road (112.93) and Rail Transportation (71.77) and Feed, Flour and Seed (54.02)
- Since 2008, Road Transportation has consistently reported FIFR values above the federal jurisdiction rates. The fatality rate for Rail Transportation increased by 376.6% from 15.06 (1 fatal injury) in 2015 to 71.77 (5 fatal injuries) in 2019. See Chart 1.6 for FIFR values for all industry sectors and Chart 3.2 (a) and Chart 3.2 (b) for historical trends of the 7 industry sectors with the highest 2019 FIFR values
Note: More detailed and historical injury data is available at the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal.
Occupational injuries amongst employees under federal jurisdiction by industry sector, 2019
Disabling injuries
In 2019, the total number of occupational injuries reported in the following 4 industry sectors made up 82.2% of all of the occupational disabling injuries in the federal jurisdiction:
- Road Transportation (ROAD)
- Federal Public Services, Public Service Departments and Crown Corporations (PUBS)
- Air Transportation (AIRT) and
- Postal Services and Postal Contractors (POST) (See Chart 1.1)
These industry sectors represented 60.3% of the total number of federal jurisdiction employees reported (See Chart 1.2), and contributed 60.2% of the total reported hours worked (See Chart 1.3).
Text description of chart 1.1
| Industry sector | Percentage of disabling injuries |
|---|---|
| Road transportation | 33.1% |
| Federal public services, public service departments and crown corporations | 17.9% |
| Air transportation | 16.8% |
| Postal services and postal contractors | 14.3% |
| *All others | 17.8% |
*All Others:
- Banking and Banks (BANK): 3.9%
- Communications (COMM): 3.8%
- Rail Transportation (RAIL): 3.5%
- Longshoring, Stevedoring, Port, Harbour Operations and Pilotage (LONG): 1.6%
- Broadcasting (Television, Radio, and Internet) (BROAD): 1.6%
- Water Transportation (Shipping and Ferries) (WATER): 1.3%
- Feed, Flour and Seed (FEED): 1.1%
- Grain Handling and Grain Elevators (GRAIN): 0.4%
- Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations (INDG): 0.4%
- Energy, Mining and Mineral Processing (ENER): 0.1%
- Pipeline Transportation (PIPE): 0.04%
- Interprovincial Infrastructure (Bridges, Tunnels, Canals, and Causeways) (BRID): 0.02%
Text description of chart 1.2
| Industry sector | Percentage of employees |
|---|---|
| Road transportation | 13.5% |
| Air transportation | 10.4% |
| Postal services and postal contractors | 5.0% |
| Federal public services, public service departments and crown corporations | 31.4% |
| *All others | 39.7% |
*All Others:
- BANK: 21.1%
- COMM: 6.7%
- RAIL: 3.1%
- BROAD: 2.5%
- INDG: 1.8%
- LONG: 1.1%
- WATER: 1.1%
- FEED: 0.8%
- GRAIN: 0.6%
- PIPE: 0.5%
- ENER: 0.3%
- BRID: 0.04%
Text description of chart 1.3
| Industry sector | Percentage of total hours worked |
|---|---|
| Road transportation | 14.7% |
| Air transportation | 10.3% |
| Postal services and postal contractors | 4.2% |
| Federal public services, public service departments and crown corporations | 31.1% |
| *All others | 39.8% |
*All Others:
- BANK: 20.5%
- COMM: 7.1%
- RAIL: 3.1%
- BROAD 2.5%
- INDG: 1.7%
- LONG: 1.4%
- WATER 1.2%
- FEED: 0.8%
- GRAIN: 0.7%
- PIPE: 0.5%
- ENER: 0.3%
- BRID 0.04%
Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR)
The DIFR is defined as the total number of reported disabling and fatal injuries per one million hours worked. It is considered the primary performance measure for the OHS program in the federal jurisdiction. In 2019, 7 of the 16 industry sectors under federal jurisdiction reported DIFRs higher than the federal jurisdiction rate of 9.39 (See Chart 1.4). These industries were:
- POST
- ROAD
- AIRT
- FEED
- LONG
- RAIL and
- WATER
With the exception of RAIL, the remaining 6 industry sectors reported greater DIFR values than the federal jurisdiction rate in both 2018 and 2019. LONG, POST, WATER and AIRT reported a decrease in 2019 compared to 2018. FEED underwent the most noted increase of 58.2%, rising from 7.65 in 2015 to 12.10 in 2019 (See Chart 3.1 (a) and Chart 3.1 (b)).
Text description of chart 1.4
| Industry sector | Disabling injury frequency rate |
|---|---|
| Postal services and postal contractors | 32.26 |
| Road transportation | 21.20 |
| Air transportation | 15.40 |
| Feed, flour and seed | 12.10 |
| Longshoring, stevedoring, port, harbour operations and pilotage | 11.16 |
| Rail transportation | 10.49 |
| Water transportation (shipping and ferries) | 10.11 |
| Grain handling and grain elevators | 6.13 |
| Broadcasting (television, radio, Internet) | 5.87 |
| Federal public services, public service departments and crown corporations | 5.39 |
| Communications | 5.05 |
| Interprovincial Infrastructure (bridges, tunnels, canals, causeways) | 4.76 |
| Energy, mining and mineral processing | 2.47 |
| Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations | 2.40 |
| Banking and banks | 1.80 |
| Pipeline transportation | 0.72 |
| The federal jurisdiction rate | 9.39 |
Fatal injuries
The total number of occupational fatalities has decreased by 16%, from 79 in 2018 to 66 in 2019. A key factor for this decrease is the reduction of fatalities in the ROAD industry sector, from 47 in 2018 to 37 in 2019.
Text description of chart 1.5
| Industry sector | Percentage of fatal work injuries |
|---|---|
| Road transportation | 56.1% |
| Air transportation | 16.7% |
| Federal public services, public service departments and crown corporations | 7.6% |
| Rail transportation | 7.6% |
| Broadcasting | 3.0% |
| Communications | 3.0% |
| *All others | 6.1% |
*All others include a fatality each for:
- FEED
- INDG
- LONG, and
- WATER
Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR)
The FIFR is defined as the total number of reported fatal injuries per one billion hours worked. In 2019, 10 of the 16 industry sectors that fall within federal jurisdiction reported fatalities. Amongst these, 7 industry sectors reported higher FIFR values than the federal jurisdiction rate (29.64):
- ROAD
- RAIL
- FEED
- AIRT
- WATER
- BROAD, and
- LONG
ROAD, RAIL, WATER, FEED, BROAD and LONG were the 6 industry sectors having a higher FIFR value than that of federal jurisdiction in both 2018 and 2019. AIRT reported an increase of 113% from 2018 (22.54) to 2019 (48.10). RAIL increased by 376.6% from 15.06 (1 fatal injury) in 2015 to 71.77 (5 fatal injuries) in 2019. Since 2008, ROAD has consistently reported FIFR values above the federal jurisdiction rates. (See Chart 3.2)
Text description of chart 1.6
| Industry sector | Fatal Injury Frequency Rate |
|---|---|
| Road transportation | 112.93 |
| Rail transportation | 71.77 |
| Feed, flour and seed | 54.02 |
| Air transportation | 48.10 |
| Water transportation (shipping and ferries) | 37.44 |
| Broadcasting (television, radio, Internet) | 35.90 |
| Longshoring, stevedoring, port, harbour operations and pilotage | 32.54 |
| Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations | 26.36 |
| Communications | 12.59 |
| Federal public services, public service departments and crown corporations | 7.23 |
| The federal jurisdiction rate | 29.64 |
Occupational injuries amongst employees under federal jurisdiction by province or territory, 2019
Disabling injuries
In 2019, 4 provinces (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta) accounted for 83.2% of all reported disabling injuries (see Chart 2.1). This can be attributed to these 4 provinces’ combined share of 84.4% of all reported federal jurisdiction employment (See Chart 2.2), and 84.1% of all the reported total hours worked (See Chart 2.3). The regional distribution of the total numbers of disabling injury numbers has seen little change compared to 2018.
Text description of chart 2.1
| Province/Territory | Percentage of disabling injuries |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 35.6% |
| Quebec | 21.3% |
| British Columbia | 15.4% |
| Alberta | 10.9% |
| Manitoba | 4.9% |
| *All Others | 11.8% |
*All others:
- Saskatchewan: 3.5%
- Nova Scotia: 3.4%
- New Brunswick: 2.6%
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 1.3%
- Prince Edward Island: 0.3%
- Nunavut: 0.2%
- Foreign: 0.2%
- Northwest Territories: 0.1%
- Yukon: 0.1%
Text description of chart 2.2
| Province/Territory | Percentage of employees |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 45.2% |
| Quebec | 19.2% |
| British Columbia | 10.8% |
| Alberta | 9.2% |
| Manitoba | 4.1% |
| *All others | 11.5% |
*All others:
- Saskatchewan: 3.0%
- Nova Scotia: 2.8%
- New Brunswick: 2.6%
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 1.3%
- Foreign: 0.6%
- Prince Edward Island: 0.5%
- Northwest Territories: 0.2%
- Yukon: 0.1%
- Nunavut: 0.1%
Text description of chart 2.3
| Province/Territory | Percentage of total hours worked |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 44.8% |
| Quebec | 19.5% |
| British Columbia | 10.6% |
| Alberta | 9.2% |
| Manitoba | 4.3% |
| *All others | 11.6% |
*All others:
- Saskatchewan: 3.0%
- Nova Scotia: 2.8%
- New Brunswick: 2.7%
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 1.4%
- Foreign: 0.6%
- Prince Edward Island: 0.5%
- Northwest Territories: 0.2%
- Yukon: 0.1%
- Nunavut: 0.1%
Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR)
In 2019, 6 provinces and 1 territory reported DIFR values higher than the federal jurisdiction DIFR of 9.39 (see Chart 2.4). Of these, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Quebec reported a greater DIFR value in 2019 than in 2018. Nunavut and British Columbia remained with the highest DIFR values in 2019 when compared to 2018.
Text description of chart 2.4
| Province/Territory | Disabling Injury Frequency Rate |
|---|---|
| Nunavut | 17.58 |
| British Columbia | 13.64 |
| Nova Scotia | 11.41 |
| Alberta | 11.13 |
| Saskatchewan | 10.82 |
| Manitoba | 10.73 |
| Quebec | 10.26 |
| Yukon | 9.34 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 9.18 |
| New Brunswick | 9.06 |
| Ontario | 7.46 |
| Northwest Territories | 6.02 |
| Prince Edward Island | 5.71 |
| Foreign | 2.8 |
| The federal jurisdiction rate | 9.39 |
Fatal injuries
In 2019, 4 provinces (Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec) accounted for 75.8% of all reported fatal injuries in the federal jurisdiction (see Chart 2.5). In comparison to 2018, Ontario’s and Alberta’s share of fatal injuries decreased, while British Columbia’s and Quebec’s share of fatal injuries increased.
Text description of chart 2.5
| Province/Territory | Percentage of fatal work injuries |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 25.8% |
| British Columbia | 19.7% |
| Alberta | 16.7% |
| Quebec | 13.6% |
| Saskatchewan | 6.1% |
| Manitoba | 6.1% |
| New Brunswick | 4.5% |
| Northwest Territories | 3.0% |
| Nova Scotia | 3.0% |
| Yukon | 1.5% |
Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR)
Only Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut reported no fatalities in 2019 (see Chart 2.6). The Northwest Territories, Yukon, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba remained above the federal jurisdiction FIFR in both 2018 and 2019. Of note, the FIFR values for the Northwest Territories (376.40) and Yukon (333.57) are significantly higher than all the other provinces and territories. This is because the Northwest Territories reported 2 fatal injuries for approximately 5.3 million hours worked and Yukon reported 1 fatal injury for approximately 3.0 million hours worked.
Text description of chart 2.6
| Province/Territory | Fatal Injury Frequency Rate |
|---|---|
| Northwest Territories | 376.40 |
| Yukon | 333.57 |
| New Brunswick | 66.72 |
| Saskatchewan | 59.15 |
| British Columbia | 55.00 |
| Alberta | 53.56 |
| Nova Scotia | 31.65 |
| Manitoba | 31.12 |
| Quebec | 20.78 |
| Ontario | 17.04 |
| The federal jurisdiction rate | 29.64 |
Annex 1: List of terms
The following definitions are used in this publication.
Disabling injury
Any employment injury or occupational disease that:
- prevents an employee from reporting for work, or from effectively performing all the duties connected with the employee’s regular work, on any day subsequent to the day on which the occupational injury occurred, whether or not that subsequent day is a working day for that employee
- results in the loss by an employee of a body member or a part thereof, or in a complete loss of the usefulness of a body member or part thereof, or
- results in the permanent impairment of a bodily function of an employee
Disabling Injury Frequency Rate (DIFR)
Defined as the total number of disabling and fatal occupational injuries per one million hours worked. It is calculated based on the following formula: ((Total Disabling Injuries + Total Fatal Injuries)*1,000,000/Total Hours Worked).
Employee
Any person who has entered into or is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship, written or oral, expressed or implied, whether by way of manual labour or otherwise. An employee is also any other person subject to the provisions of a workers’ compensation board act or any direction or order of a board.
Employment
- All work or activities performed in carrying out assignments or requests made by the employer. It includes related activities not specifically covered by an assignment or request
- Any voluntary work or activities undertaken while on duty for the benefit of the employer
- Any activities undertaken while on duty with the consent or approval of the employer
Fatal injury
An occupational injury or disease resulting in death.
Fatal Injury Frequency Rate (FIFR)
Defined as the total number of fatal occupational injuries per one billion hours worked. It is calculated based on the following formula: (Total Fatal Injuries*1,000,000,000/Total Hours Worked).
Federal jurisdiction
Federal jurisdiction covers:
- works, undertakings or businesses that are within the legislative authority of Parliament, and
- work declared to be for the general advantage of 2 or more provinces outside the exclusive authority of the provincial legislatures
Federal jurisdiction defined under the Canada Labour Code covers specific industries and their infrastructures. Consult the section Industry sectors under federal jurisdiction for the list of federally regulated industries.
Full-time Equivalent (FTE)
Refers to the employment of one person full time. It may also refer to more than one person part time whose total working time is the equivalent of one person working full time. FTEs are measured in person-years. For example:
- 100 people employed full time equals 100 FTEs
- 10 people employed half time equals 5 FTEs
- all 110 people combined represent 105 FTEs
Minor injury
An occupation injury or disease, excluding disabling injuries, for which treatment at a medical facility is provided.
Occupational injury
Any injury, disease or illness incurred by an employee in the performance of, or in connection with, his or her work.
Annex 2: Data charts
Text description of chart 3.1 (a)
| Industry | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National rate (the federal jurisdiction rate) | 9.42 | 9.13 | 9.17 | 9.30 | 9.39 |
| Air transportation | 16.71 | 15.92 | 16.03 | 16.29 | 15.40 |
| Road transportation | 17.59 | 16.26 | 18.32 | 19.76 | 21.20 |
| Postal services and postal contractors | 43.65 | 41.88 | 41.39 | 37.82 | 32.26 |
Text description of chart 3.1 (b)
| Industry | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National rate (the federal jurisdiction rate) | 9.42 | 9.13 | 9.17 | 9.30 | 9.39 |
| Water transportation (shipping and ferries) | 11.32 | 12.39 | 9.68 | 10.76 | 10.11 |
| Rail transportation | 8.3 | 8.12 | 8.87 | 8.71 | 10.49 |
| Longshoring, stevedoring, port, harbour operations and pilotage | 19.07 | 19.46 | 17.89 | 21.13 | 11.16 |
| Feed, flour and seed | 7.65 | 10.50 | 7.62 | 11.02 | 12.10 |
Text description of chart 3.2 (a)
| Industry | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National rate (the federal jurisdiction rate) | 26.44 | 30.33 | 28.08 | 34.24 | 29.64 |
| Feed, flour and seed | 0 | 0 | 101.62 | 98.81 | 54.02 |
| Rail transportation | 15.06 | 16.11 | 31.62 | 40.43 | 71.77 |
| Road transportation | 98.65 | 96.43 | 91 | 128.66 | 112.93 |
Text description of chart 3.2 (b)
| Industry | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air transportation | 42.18 | 22.84 | 32.34 | 22.54 | 48.10 |
| Water transportation (shipping and ferries) | 20.72 | 61.56 | 0.00 | 38.02 | 37.44 |
| Broadcasting (television, radio, internet) | 0.00 | 16.35 | 52.54 | 87.80 | 35.90 |
| Longshoring, stevedoring, port, harbour operations and pilotage | 0.00 | 66.88 | 0.00 | 118.39 | 32.54 |
| National rate (the federal jurisdiction rate) | 26.44 | 30.33 | 28.08 | 34.24 | 29.64 |
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