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More can be done to prevent workplace fatalities: Alberta Federation of Labour

The province isn’t doing enough to prevent deaths at the workplace.

Those comments come from the Alberta Federation of Labour after three people died on the job in the past week.

AFL President Gil McGowan says a website that posts information about an company’s health and safety record doesn’t go far enough because it doesn’t contain the results of an inspection.

“The ministry has chosen to post something that they call a lost time claims ratio, which only covers about 15 per cent of recorded workplace injuries. Eighty-five per cent of injuries are not captured,” he says.

McGowan welcomes more inspectors to keep tabs on worksites, but he says the new hires don’t go far enough.

“Alberta has a higher proportion of people working in dangerous occupations like construction, oil and gas, and other high risk industries than other provinces do.”

The AFL says there were workplace 76 deaths as of July 31st this year, up from 58 last year.

iNews880AM, Mon Oct 18 2010