UBC Facilities aims to provide a safe, healthy, and secure environment to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of all of us as we work to support the university. It is critical that all possible preventive measures are taken to eliminate risks of accidental injuries, occupational diseases, and risks to personal security.
In order to gain some insight into our health and safety efforts over the past year and identify areas for improvement, here is a general overview of the preliminary Facilities incident/accident statistics for 2021.
Facilities had a total of 136 incidents reported into CAIRS in 2021:
- 127 in Building Operations (includes Custodial Services, Customer Services & Informatics, Municipal Services, and Trades)
- 9 in Energy & Water Services
- 0 in Infrastructure Development
Although the overall number of incidents in Facilities decreased by 15%, Building Operations experienced a 10.5% increase in time loss incidents, while Energy & Water Services saw time loss drop by 33%.
Over the last 5 years, we have consistently seen the top factors contributing to injuries to be planning inadequate, limited space, procedures not followed, awkward load and lifting heavy load. However, a shift occurred this past year with a rise in injuries due to ergonomic factors that we haven’t seen since the mid-2000s, involving lifting heavy loads, repetitive motion, planning inadequate, handling awkward loads, and limited space taking over the top spots of contributing to injuries among our staff.
Historically, ergonomic-related injuries resulting from overexertion and repetitive motion comprise approximately 35% of UBC’s WorkSafe BC claims. However, ergonomic-related injuries within Facilities topped 58.6% of WorkSafe BC Claims and primarily involved the back and shoulder.
These statistics show us that there are opportunities for us to reduce the potential for workplace injuries in 2022. Together — the Joint Occupational Health & Safety Committees and Facilities team — will work towards making our workplace safer, healthier, and more secure.
We thank you for your continued efforts and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve in health and safety in 2022!