Construction program sector trends

Background

The Ministry of Labour keeps a record of:

• visits to workplaces by occupational health and safety inspectors
• events that are reported to the ministry, including fatalities, critical injuries, complaints and work refusals.

We use this data and data from sources such as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to help plan health and safety initiatives.

Construction program summary

Table 1: Events and injuries in the construction program by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	19	22	16	16	25	21
Critical injuries	231	180	158	206	319	357
Complaints	4,337	3,976	5,529	6,579	6,728	6,255
Work refusals	8	8	14	19	4	10

Asbestos removal operations

In Ontario, asbestos operations are classified according to the level of the asbestos hazard they present. As the exposure risk increases from Type 1 to Type 2 to Type 3, additional measures and procedures are necessary to protect workers from exposure.

The sector includes three types of asbestos abatement operations:

• Type 1 covers installing or removing of asbestos-containing products that are non-friable (that is, not easily crumbled between the thumb and fingers) or are not already crumbled.
• Type 2 includes breaking, cutting, drilling, abrading, grinding, sanding, or vibrating non-friable asbestos-containing material using non-powered hand-held tools if the material is not wetted.
• Type 3 includes work with either friable or non-friable asbestos-containing material that has the potential to generate high concentrations of asbestos fibers in the air.

Table 2: Events in asbestos removal operations sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	0	0	0	0	0	0
Critical injuries	2	2	0	3	1	1
Complaints	27	39	32	25	31	35
Work refusals	0	0	0	0	0	0

Industrial, commercial and institutional

This includes:

• industrial buildings (for example, manufacturing plants, industrial warehouses)
• commercial buildings (for example, retail stores, malls)
• institutional buildings (for example, schools, health care institutions)
• above ground mining plants (for example, gravel processing facilities)

Table 3: Events in industrial, commercial and institutional sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	6	2	7	3	8	5
Critical injuries	70	60	54	53	99	108
Complaints	938	896	1,140	1,093	1,285	1,213
Work refusals	1	3	8	5	3	3

Residential construction

The residential sector is characterized by multiple contractors and independent operators.

This includes:

• high-rise buildings (for example, rental apartments, condominiums)
• low-rise residential housing (for example, single homes, townhouses)
• renovations, reconstruction or additions to existing homes (for example, upgrading living space, re-roofing)
• in-fill housing (for example, new home constructed between existing housing)

Table 4: Events in residential construction sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	8	12	6	10	11	8
Critical injuries	69	59	56	75	145	154
Complaints	1,375	1,440	2,235	2,455	2,856	2,760
Work refusals	1	2	1	3	1	2

Road construction

This includes:

• highway and road construction (for example, new roads, rebuilding existing highways)
• infrastructure or large public works projects (for example, widening an intersection,  replacement of community sidewalks, bridge construction (for example, highway overpass, movable bridge over a waterway)
• asphalt paving (for example, new roads, resurfacing)

Table 5: Events in road construction sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	0	4	1	1	1	3
Critical injuries	19	12	13	12	20	21
Complaints	145	158	176	200	218	200
Work refusals	0	1	0	1	0	0

Utilities

This includes:

• underground utility infrastructure systems (for example, natural gas lines, cable services)
• power electrical distribution lines (for example, transmission systems, electrical towers)
• renewable energy (for example, hydroelectric generating systems from flowing water, geothermal energy systems from the earth's heat, wind turbines, solar power)

Table 6: Events in utilities sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	0	1	0	0	4	0
Critical injuries	21	17	11	9	12	20
Complaints	114	138	97	73	102	98
Work refusals	3	1	1	2	0	2

Underground

This includes:

• sewer and water main (for example, new or existing subdivisions)
• trenching (for example, water runoff ditch, pipeline installation)
• excavations (for example, reservoirs)
• caisson and cofferdam construction (for example, concrete dams, bridge piers)
• shafts (for example, sewage or water tunnel)
• tunnelling (for example, traffic diversion, pedestrian passageway)
• subway and railway (for example, tracks, access platforms)

Table 7: Events in underground sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	3	3	2	0	0	4
Critical injuries	14	13	10	15	15	22
Complaints	186	207	241	255	290	180
Work refusals	0	1	2	1	0	2

Window cleaning

This includes window cleaning services for buildings where a worker may fall a vertical distance of 3 metres or more (for example, commercial services, new residential construction project, high rise apartments).

Table 8: Events in window cleaning sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	0	0	0	0	0	0
Critical injuries	1	2	1	0	5	2
Complaints	0	0	0	0	16	28
Work refusals	20	17	24	12	0	0

Not elsewhere classified/other construction

This includes:

• construction that is not covered under the other subsectors (for example, silo construction)
• moving buildings or structures (for example, moving historical buildings or monument)
• demolition (for example, damaged structure)

Table 9: Events in not elsewhere classified/other construction sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	2	0	0	2	1	1
Critical injuries	4	7	7	8	5	29
Complaints	46	51	144	148	246	150
Work refusals	0	0	0	0	0	1

Diving

A "diving operation" means work performed under water by divers and includes work performed on the surface in support of divers.

This includes:

• inspections (for example, dams, bridge foundations)
• investigations (for example, submersed pipelines)
• excavation (for example, boating waterway)
• construction or alteration (for example, bridge foundations, underwater welding or concreting)
• repair or maintenance (for example, equipment, machinery, structures, ships)
• services (for example, scientific research, aquaculture support, emergency services)
• environmental (for example, reduction or removal of spills)
• salvage operations, (for example, recovery of sunken property)

Table 10: Events in diving sector by fiscal year

Event	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19
Fatalities	0	0	0	0	0	0
Critical injuries	0	0	0	0	0	0
Complaints	3	4	4	3	6	1
Work refusals	0	0	0	0	0	0

Statistical notes

• Only critical injury events reported to the ministry are included for each sector.
• This represents data that were reported to the ministry and may not represent what actually occurred at the workplace.
• Some events may not have been classified under a specific subsector at the time data was downloaded for this report.
• The critical injury numbers represent critical injuries reported to the ministry and not necessarily critical injuries as defined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
• Non-workers who are critically injured may also be included in the ministry's data.
• The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development tracks and reports fatalities at workplaces covered by the OHSA. This excludes deaths from natural causes, deaths of non-workers at a workplace, suicides, deaths as a result of a criminal act or traffic accident (unless the OHSA is also implicated) and deaths from occupational exposures that occurred many years ago.
• Data subject to change because of inspectors' updates to the database.