When crews are slammed, schedules are tight, and everyone is racing the clock, one thing quietly slips first: safety discipline.
And that’s exactly why a "year in review" matters, because the numbers don’t care how busy we were.
Before we get into it: 2025 totals are still preliminary. Alberta’s employer injury/fatality records are based on WCB-reported data that employers can continue submitting up until March 31.
What follows is the pattern safety leaders keep seeing, year after year and the practical actions that actually reduce risk when operations are at full tilt.
The pattern: fatalities stay stubborn, even with "more safety"
In Alberta, workplace fatalities consistently include a large share tied to occupational disease (long-latency exposures), alongside traumatic incidents.
To ground this with the most recently published WCB totals: WCB-Alberta accepted 203 fatality claims in 2024.
WCB’s breakdown for 2024 lists 112 occupational disease, 50 trauma, 29 motor vehicle collision, and 12 other.
That mix matters because it tells us two things:
- Exposure control and hygiene programs are not "nice to have." They’re fatality prevention.
- Trauma risks (falls, struck-by/caught-between, equipment interaction, mobile equipment, line-of-fire) still demand relentless daily execution, especially in construction.
Construction stays high-risk because the work is dynamic
Construction remains one of the most dangerous environments because conditions change constantly: crews, subs, access, weather, sequencing, equipment, and pressure.
Alberta Construction Safety Association messaging (drawing on WCB and national comp data) has pointed out that construction represents a disproportionate share of fatalities relative to workforce size.
Busy + dynamic work = more drift.
Not because people don’t care, but because "normal" gets redefined when you’re trying to keep up.
A case that hit the industry: the Liam Johnston trench death
Some incidents become inflection points for safety professionals because they spotlight the gap between what should happen and what actually happens after a fatality.
In June 2023, 27-year-old apprentice plumber Liam Johnston died while repairing a sewer line in a trench in Calgary’s Charleswood area. News reports later stated the employer faced 11 OHS charges.
In December 2025 reporting, the investigation outcome described that criminal negligence charges were not approved/pursued due to insufficient evidence, while the OHS matter remained separate.
This ruling frustrated and saddened many people in the safety industry, and likely devasted his friends and family that were no doubt hoping for another outcome.
It further drove home the belief that despite Canada introducing safety negligence into the Criminal Code via (Bill C-45) Westray amendments in 2004, prosecutions have been rare.
What busy companies should do differently (starting NOW)
Here’s the practical part. If you want fewer incidents during peak workload, don’t just "tell people to be careful." Tighten the system.
- Make supervision visible (not just "available")
- Verify controls—not paperwork
- Digitize the repeatable so nothing slips
Bottom line
The numbers don’t shift just because we care about safety. They shift when we remove friction, standardize the basics, and verify execution, especially when work is moving fast.
If you want help pressure-proofing your safety system (and making compliance easier on crews), Bow Valley Safety can support with practical, field-tested H&S programs, digitized workflows, and hands-on consulting.