Background

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development 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 compliance campaigns and initiatives.

Mining program: summary

Table 1: Events in the mining program by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities011221
Critical injuries393632668073
Complaints153138211193163203
Work refusals107116109

Underground mines

This includes ramp or shaft (conveyance) access mines and a variety of mining methods such as bulk or narrow-vein mining.

Table 2: Events in underground mines sector by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities001110
Critical injuries121415344140
Complaints506285695885
Work refusals335425

Mining plants

Mining plants include mills, blast furnaces, smelters and refineries.

Table 3: Events in mining plants sector by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities000000
Critical injuries1287121415
Complaints373072605450
Work refusals535184

Open pit mines and quarries

This covers surface operations that typically involve large scale drilling, blasting, crushing, sizing and trucking.

Table 4: Events in open pit mines and quarries sector by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities010010
Critical injuries7544913
Complaints162828262747
Work refusals011100

Sand and gravel pits

These range from small open pits to large-scale operations with hundreds of pieces of mobile equipment. Typically, these operations do not involve blasting.

Table 5: Events in sand and gravel pits sector by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities000000
Critical injuries214634
Complaints151214171011
Work refusals000000

Oil and natural gas

This sector is tied to both onshore and offshore locations. Offshore locations are governed by Regulation 855  – Oil and Gas, and onshore activities are governed by Regulation 854 – Mines and Mining Plants.

Table 6: Events in oil and natural gas sector by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities000000
Critical injuries000000
Complaints100000
Work refusals000000

Diamond drilling

Mineral exploration sites include surface operations that typically involve diamond drilling and bulk sampling to determine ore reserve potential.

Table 7: Events in diamond drilling sector by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities000101
Critical injuries001450
Complaints002361
Work refusals000000

Not elsewhere classified/mining

Table 8: Events occurring at workplace locations falling under the mining program that are not further classified into specific subsector type by fiscal year.

Table 8: Events in other sectors by fiscal year
Event2018-20192019-20202020-20212021-20222022-20232023-2024
Fatalities000000
Critical injuries461581
Complaints19091757
Work refusals000000

Statistical notes

  • Only critical injury events reported to the ministry are included for each sector.
  • This represents data that was 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, Immigration, 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.