Background Understanding the extent of work-related fatality (WRF) burden can provide insight into prevention efforts. The Canadian province of Saskatchewan demonstrates an increased WRF burden over other provinces. Still, the evolution of this WRF burden over time remains unclear and this limits understanding of the true pattern of fatalities at the workplace and identification of potential WRF leading indicators. This study examined the WRF rate in Saskatchewan over the past decade, as well as potential risk factors.

Methods Retrospective linked Saskatchewan workplace traumatic fatalities and Statistics Canada labour force survey data were used. Fatality cases were then aggregated by year, season, worker characteristics (e.g., age, sex, and industry type), total employment, total labour force, and the number of unemployed workers. Yearly WRF rates were calculated using the number of fatalities as the numerator and yearly total employment numbers as the denominator. A generalized additive model with Poisson distribution was carried out to examine the association of WRF rates to personal characteristics and economic indicators.

Results The study identified 220 traumatic WRF cases from 2007 to 2018. The average twelve-year WRF rate was 0.28 ± 0.07 per 100,000, with a stable WRF rate observed between 2013–2014 and 2015–2017 and an increasing trend between 2017–2018. Men were 13 times more likely to have WRF than women (RR=13.7, 95% CI: 10.48–17.9), and participants aged 60+ years were disproportionately affected by WRF (0.70 ± 0.21 per 100,000). The construction industry experienced the highest WRF risk (RR=9.2, 95%CI 6.1–13.8). Risk of WRF was found to increase with unemployment rate, but dropped when unemployment rate was highest.

Conclusion The study findings show a rising trend in recent (2017–2018) WRF rate, with transient increases in unemployment rate compounding the problem. Targeting prevention strategies towards high-risk population and age groups and during periods of economic downturn could help address fatalities at work.