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Fatal occupational accidents in Ontario, 1986–1989
Author(s) -
Shan Harry S.,
Hope Laura,
Griffith Lauren,
Stieb David
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700230203
Subject(s) - medicine , coroner , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , christian ministry , poison control , suicide prevention , cannabis , human factors and ergonomics , incidence (geometry) , demography , medical emergency , environmental health , psychiatry , philosophy , physics , theology , pathology , sociology , optics
We examined 470 fatal occupational accidents in Ontario, 1986–1989, that met eligibility criteria. Homicides and most accidents on public roads were excluded. Information was obtained from coroners' files and records of the provincial Ministry of Labour. Levels of alcohol likely to produce impairment were found in six subjects (2% of the two‐thirds of fatalities tested). Cannabis was detected in 3.9% of cases (17% of those tested), but other illegal drugs were not found. Recommendations of coroner's juries showed that organizational factors were considered relevant on many occasions, although language and literacy were rarely mentioned. The incidence rate rose steadily with age. Other data items were examined, although, because of missing information and/or lack of denominator data for many of them, the conclusions that can be drawn are limited. Among these tentative findings was that more fatal accidents occurred in the first half of the shift than in the second half. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss. Inc.