An Overview of the Safety Performance of Construction Subsectors Across Canada Over the Last Two Decades: Fatalities and Lost Time Claims

The construction industry, both globally and in Canada, has long been associated with poor workplace safety records. These ongoing challenges highlight the persistent demand for enhancements in safety measures and policies throughout the industry. A previous investigation within the current study has revealed that safety incident rates vary among different provinces and territories across the country. Building on these insights, we speculate that the type of industry may be a crucial variable contributing to these differences. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to provide a comparative overview of the safety performance of construction subsectors across Canadian provinces and territories in an aim to identify disparities among the different subsectors within the construction industry. The study first provides an overview of the subsectors in the construction industry at the Canadian level before delving into a provincial analysis using statistics from the last two decades. The classification of the subsector divisions is based on the NAICS system. For each subsector, provinces are ranked based on the performance which allows the discovery of nuances in the safety performance of each subsector. As the demand for safety improvements increases, this paper emphasizes the necessity of focusing on specific areas by pinpointing and highlighting the targeted areas in need of attention. Additionally, it serves as a valuable starting point for exploring the factors contributing to superior safety performance in provinces with safer construction and those influencing shortcomings in others.