Worksite fatality investigation summaries

Types of fatalities

Common types of fatal incidents investigated by Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) include:

falls
struck by objects
caught by objects
transportation incidents
exposure to harmful substances
fire and explosion

Motor vehicle accidents

If a reportable incident involving a motor vehicle occurs and a worker under provincial jurisdiction is injured, OHS investigates. Depending on the circumstances, OHS involvement can range from a full investigation to follow-up inspections and compliance checks.

Occupational disease fatalities

Deaths due to occupational disease are reported by a physician and included in provincial industry statistics.

Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB)

The Alberta WCB oversees the employer-funded insurance plan that pays injured or ill workers, when the injury or illness is work-related. Death benefits may also be paid from this insurance plan when a fatality is accepted as work-related by Alberta WCB.

WCB coverage is separate from OHS jurisdiction.

Examples:

A fatality occurs to a worker in a federally regulated industry on an Alberta work site. Although the worker may be covered by provincial WCB, the employer is under federal jurisdiction. This fatality would be investigated by federal OHS, not Alberta OHS.
A worker for an out-of-province company is fatally injured while temporarily working in Alberta. The incident may be investigated by OHS, but the fatality might be accepted under a different province’s compensation board.

Fatality investigation summaries

OHS publishes these fatality investigation summaries after investigations and all court proceedings, if any, are completed. Summaries are listed under the year in which the fatal incident occurred.

Any court proceedings resulting from work site fatalities must be completed before investigation summaries are published.