Political Economy of Workplace Injury in Canada

Workplace injuries are common, avoidable, and unacceptable. The Political Economy of Workplace Injury in Canada reveals how employers and governments engage in ineffective injury prevention efforts, intervening only when necessary to maintain the standard legitimacy. Barnetson sheds light on this faulty system, highlighting the way in which employers create dangerous work environments while they pour billions of dollars into compensation and treatment. Examining this dynamic clarifies the way in which production costs are passed on to workers in the form of workplace injuries.

About the Author

Bob Barnetson is assistant professor of labour relations at Athabasca University. He has worked for the Alberta Labour Relations Board, the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board, and the Alberta government. www.albertalabour.blogspot.com

Table of Contents

1. Acknowledgements
2. Introduction
3. Part One. Employment Relationships in Canada
4. Part Two. Preventing Workplace Injury
5. Part Three. Critique of OHS in Canada
6. Part Four. Political Economy of Preventing Workplace Injury
7. Part Five. Compensation of Workplace Injury
8. Part Seven. Managing Workers via Injury Compensation
9. Part Eight. Conclusion
10. Notes / Selected Bibliography / Index

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 CA). It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author is credited.