The Validity of Alberta Safety Statistics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/1705-1436.23Abstract
This study examines the validity of injury statistics used to monitor workplace safety in the Canadian province of Alberta. These indicators were found to significantly under-report the rate of injury and to be vulnerable to gaming by both employers and the workers’ compensation board. These threats to the validity of the measures should limit the inferences drawn from the measures. Injury-based statistics were also found to be inadequate proxies for the broader construct of workplace safety. The political feasibility of alternative measures is also discussed.
References
AEI. 2008. Fact Sheet: Lost-Time Claim Rate. Edmonton: Alberta Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2009. Ministry Annual Report, 2008-09. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2009b. Occupational fatalities and fatality rates, 1999 to 2008. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2010a. Provincial on-the-job injury rate hits record low. Press release. April 28. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2010b. 2009 Workplace Health and Safety Data Analysis. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2010c. Ten-point plan to achieve greater Occupational Health and Safety accountability and transparency. Press release. July 30. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2010d. Work Safe Alberta Strategy 2006-2008: Implementation Status Update. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2010e. Occupational health and safety (OHS) focused inspection: Commercial construction report. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2011a. Occupational health and safety (OHS) focused inspection: Powered mobile equipment report. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2011b. Occupational health and safety (OHS) focused inspection: Young workers report. Edmonton: Employment and Immigration.
AEI. 2010. Decline in workplace deaths no cause for complacency: Fewer injuries in 2009 reflect the fact that fewer Albertans are working, not tougher government regulations. Press release. May 5. Edmonton: Alberta Federation of Labour
AHS. 2011a. 2011 Occupational Health and Safety penalties double from previous year.Press release. December 29. Edmonton: Human Services.
AHS. 2011b. Occupational health and safety (OHS) focused inspection: Residential construction report. Edmonton: Human Services.
AHS. 2012. Alberta Labour Force Statistics, January 2012. Edmonton: Human Services.
Alberta. 2011a. 2010 Annual Alberta Labour Market Review. Edmonton: Author.
Alberta. 2011b. Occupational injuries and diseases in Alberta: 2010 Summary.Edmonton: Alberta
Alberta Cancer Foundation 2005. Cancer and the workplace: An overview for workers and employers. Edmonton: Author.
Auditor General. 2010. Report of the Auditor General, April 2010. Edmonton: Auditor General.
Azarhoff, L., Lax, M., Levenstein, C. and Wegman, D. 2004. “Wounding the messenger: The new economy makes occupational indicators too good to be true.” International journal of health services. 34(2), 271-303. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2190/4H2X-XD53-GK0J-91NQ
Barnetson, B. 2008. “Performance measures in Alberta’s labour programming.” Canadian political science review. 2(1): 35-50.
Barnetson, B. 2010. The political economy of workplace injury in Canada. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.
Canadian Cancer Society/National Cancer Institute of Canada (2005). Canadian Cancer Statistics 2005. Toronto: Author. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jncimonographs/lgi013
CBC. 2012a. Interview with Bob Barnetson. RadioActive, CBC Edmonton. January 5, 1710-20h.
CBC. 2012b. Interview with Barry Harrison. RadioActive, CBC Edmonton. January 6, 1710-20h.
Cherry, N., Beach, J., Burstyn, I., Fan, X., Guo, N. and Kapur, N. 2009. “Data linkage to estimate the extent and distribution of occupational diseases: Newonset adult asthma in Alberta, Canada.” American journal of industrial medicine. 52: 831-40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20753
Cree, M., Lalji, M., Jiang, B. and Carriere, K. 2009. “Under-reporting of compensable mesothelioma in Alberta.” American journal of industrial medicine52. 526-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20705
Cox, R. and Lippel, K. 2008. “Falling through the legal cracks: The pitfalls of using workers’ compensation data as indicators of work-related injuries and illnesses.” Policy and practice in health and safety. 6(2). 9-30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14774003.2008.11667721
Cryderman, K. 2010a. “WCB staff efficiency bonuses called moral hazard.” Calgary Herald, July 23.
Cryderman, K. 2010b. “Critics say WCB offers bonuses for hurrying injured workers back to work.” Calgary Herald, July 22.
D’Aliesio, R. 2010. “Alberta announces plan to boost workplace safety records.” Calgary Herald, July 30.
De Guzman, M-L. 2010. “Employment minister mulls release of Alberta employers' safety records.” Canadian Occupational Safety Magazine. Retrieved July 5, 2010 http://www.cos-mag.com/201004161854/safety/safety-stories/alberta-set-to-release-employers-safety-records.html
Foster, J. 2010, August 4. Interview with former director of policy for the Alberta Federation of Labour. Edmonton.
Hajjaj, F., Salek, M., Basra, M. and Finlay, A. 2010. “Non-clinical influences on clinical decision-making: a major challenge to evidence-based practice.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 103. 178-87 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1258/jrsm.2010.100104
Hyatt, D. and Kralj, B. 1995. “The impact of workers' compensation experience rating on employer appeals activity.” Industrial relations 34(1): 95-106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-232X.1995.tb00362.x
Ison, T. 1986. “The significance of experience rating.” Osgoode Hall law journal. 24(4): 723-42.
Kosny, A., MacEachen, E., Lifshen, M., Smith, P., Joya Jafri, G., Neilson, C., Pugliese, D. and Shields, J. 2011. “Delicate dances: Immigrant workers’ experiences of injury reporting and claim filing.” Ethnicity & health Pre-press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2011.614327
Kralj, B. 1994. “Employer responses to workers' compensation insurance experience rating.” Relations industrielles/Industrial relations. 49(1): 41-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/050917ar
Kralj, B. 1995. “Experience rating of workers’ compensation insurance premiums and the duration of workplace injuries.” Pp. 106-22 in Research in Canadian Workers’ Compensation, edited by T. Thomason and R. Chaykowski. Kingston: IRC Press.
Kraut, A. 1994. “Estimates of the extent of morbidity and mortality due to occupational diseases in Canada.” American journal of industrial medicine. 25(2): 267-78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.4700250213
Kraut, A. 2009. “Hospitalization in Winnipeg, Canada due to occupational disease: A pilot study.” American journal of industrial medicine. 52: 372-79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20681
Labour & Employment in Alberta. 2011. “An employer perspective on OHS in Alberta.” Retrieved December 13, 2011 http://albertalabour.blogspot.com/2011/12/employer-perspective-on-ohs-in-alberta.html
Lanoie, P. 1992. “The impact of occupational safety and health regulation on the risk of workplace accidents: Quebec, 1983-87.” Journal of human resources. 27(4): 643-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/146079
Lippel, K. 1999. “Workers’ compensation and stress: gender and access to compensation.” International journal of law and psychiatry. 22(1). 79-89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-2527(98)00019-3
Lippel, K. 2004. “Compensation for musculo-skeletal disorders in Quebec: Systemic discrimination against women workers?” International journal of health services. 33(2). 2253-281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2190/JPQD-RT1G-QKTK-JF2R
Lippel, K. 2006. “Precarious employment and occupational health and safety regulation in Quebec.” Pp. 241-55 in Precarious employment: Understanding of labour market insecurity in Canada, edited by L. Vosko (ed). Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
MacEachen, E. 2001. “The mundane administration of worker bodies: From welfarism to Neoliberalism.” Health, risk & society. 2(3): 316-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/713670167
MacEachen, E., Ferrier, S., Kosny, A. and Chambers, L. 2007. “A deliberation on ‘hurt versus harm’ in early-return-to-work policy.” Policy and practice in health and safety. 5(2): 41-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14774003.2007.11667693
McKinlay, J., Potter, D. and Feldman, H. 1996. “Non-medical influences on medical decision-making.” Social science and medicine. 42(5): 769-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(95)00342-8
Osborne, D. and Gaebler, T. 1993. Reinventing government. NewYork: Plume. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3381012
Payne, J. and Pichora, E. 2009. “Filing for workers' compensation among Ontario cases of mesothelioma.” Canadian respiratory journal. 16:148-52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/364258
Provincial Strategic Working Group on Workplace Safety. 2002. Joint industry and government strategy on workplace safety. Edmonton: Provincial Strategic Working Group on Workplace Safety.
Provincial Strategic Working Group on Workplace Safety. 2004. Progress Report. Edmonton: Author.
Quinlain, M., Mayhew, C. and Bohle, P. 2001. “The global expansion of precarious employment, work disorganization, and the consequences for occupational health: A review of recent research.” International journal of health services. 31(2). 335-414. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2190/607H-TTV0-QCN6-YLT4
Shannon, H. and Lowe, G. 2002. “How many injured workers do not file claims for workers' compensation benefits?” American journal of industrial medicine.42(6): 467-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.10142
Sireci, S. 1998. “The construct of content validity.” Social indicators research. 45. 83-117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006985528729
Smith, P., Kosny, A. and Mustard, C. 2009. “Difference in access to wage replacement benefits for absences due to work-related injury or illness in Canada.” American journal of industrial medicine. 52. 341-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.20683
Speers, K. 2004. “Performance measurement in the Government of Alberta: Propaganda or truth?” Paper presented at the Canadian Political Science Association Annual Conference. Winnipeg: June 5-7.
Storey, R. 2009. “From invisibility of equality? Women workers and the gendering of workers’ compensation in Ontario, 1900-2005.” Labour/Le travail. 64(2). 75-106.
Thomason, T. and Pozzebon, S. 2002. “Determinants of firm workplace health and safety and claims management practices.” Industrial and labor relations review. 55(2): 286-307. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/001979390205500205
Townley, B. Cooper, D and Oakes, L. 2003. “Performance measures and the rationalization of organizations.” Organization studies. 24(7): 1045–71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01708406030247003
Tracy, C., Dantas, G., Moineddin, R and Upshur, R. 2005. “Contextual factors in clinical decision making: national survey of Canadian family physicians.” Canadian family physician. 51. 1106-7.
Trochim, W . and Donnelly, J. 2006. The research methods knowledge base, 3rd Ed.Atomic Dog Publishing.
WCB. 2005. Cancers and Respiratory Diseases, Number of Newly Reported Claims and Accepted Claims (by Detailed Description), Transaction Year: 1991-2005.Edmonton: Workers’ Compensation Board.
WCB. 2007. Partners in Injury Reduction Brochure. Edmonton: Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board.
WCB. 2008. 2008 Premium Rate. Edmonton: Workers’ Compensation Board.
WCB. 2010a. Injury statistics released in response to FOIP Request 2010-G-003.Edmonton: Workers’ Compensation Board.
WCB. 2010b. 2010-Q1 WCB-Alberta Corporate Scorecard. Edmonton: Workers’ Compensation Board
WCB. 2010c. 2009 accountability framework: Supplement measures report.Edmonton: Workers’ Compensation Board.
WCB. 2011. Partnerships in Injury Reduction PIR Refund Results. Edmonton: Workers’ Compensation Board.
Downloads
Published
Versions
- 2012-10-01 (2)
- (1)
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
All reproduction, electronic or otherwise, of the material from Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, is allowable free of charge for education purposes.
The content of the reproduced material must not be altered in any way. Institutions and organizations must notify the Centre for Research on Work and Society (CRWS) of their intention to reproduce, distribute and/or require monetary compensation for Just Labour material.
Any monetary compensation derived from the sale of Just Labour material must not exceed the minimum recovery cost of reproduction.
The Centre for Research on Work and Society reserves the right to review this policy at any time with no retroactive consequences for institutions and individuals who have received permission to reproduce material.