WCB Nova Scotia reports year-over-year improvement in workplace injury rate

Karen Adams, CEO, WCB Nova Scotia.

WCB Nova Scotia is reporting an improvement in the workplace injury rate — with the figure dropping from 1.54 injuries per 100 covered workers in 2022 to 1.40 last year.

This number has been steadily declining for decades, it said, and the injury rate is half of what it was in 2003.

Last year, there were 20,487 injuries in Nova Scotia, and 5,217 of them led to three or more days off work. That’s down from 5,420 time-loss injuries in 2022, it said.

Home-care sector improvements

The province’s home-care sector has the highest rate of injury, but WCB Nova Scotia pointed to “encouraging improvements.” The rate improved by 15 per cent, from 6.85 to 5.84 injuries per 100 covered workers, it said.

The improvements reflect long-term efforts in a partnership with government, employers, and many partners in the long-term care, home care, and disability support sectors, it said.

“It’s critical that we continue to protect these Nova Scotians from injury’s impact,” said Karen Adams, CEO of WCB Nova Scotia. “Their work is so important.”

Returning to work

And although people take longer to return to their full pre-injury job duties than in many other provinces, there was improvement in 2023, it said.

Days paid lost to workplace injury declined by 59,000 days in 2023. That’s about 160 person-years of work – Nova Scotians back on the job and working in sectors where they’re needed most, like health care and construction, it said.

“We still have a long way to go, but every day not lost to work is a day the Nova Scotia economy needs,” Adams says. “All roads should lead to return-to-work. That’s how we will reduce the cost of workers’ compensation in our province, and more importantly, its impact on the workforce, and on Nova Scotian families.”