New WorkSafeBC statistics have pinpointed 2009 as the year work-related disease overtook traumatic injuries as the leading cause of work-related deaths in B.C. According to WorkSafe, traumatic injuries causing death have decreased 68 per cent since 1990 as the number of occupational disease-related deaths, mainly from exposure to asbestos, continues to increase. Since the health effects of asbestos can take decades to manifest, the higher disease mortality is due to exposures that occurred decades ago.
