Ontario's Labour Ministry ran a two-month enforcement blitz in an effort to protect the health of workers. (CBC)

Ontario's Labour Ministry finished a two-month string of workplace inspections Friday aimed at cutting down the rates of work-related injuries it said is costing the province millions.

Workplaces like retail stores, construction sites and hospitals have been reporting high rates of repetitive strain injuries — something the province winds up paying for.

Bruce Waller, president of the union that represents some Ottawa hospital workers, said the amount of sick leave is up, as nurses cope with back and shoulder pain.

"The workload is a lot heavier now than it used to be," Waller said.

"Now when you lift a patient you might be by yourself or with one person, where before there might have been a few with you."

Anne Duffy, the Ontario Ministry of Labour's provincial ergonomist, said pain caused by "insidious" workplace injuries tends to sneak up on workers.

"People don't often make the connection that this person is working in an awkward posture day after day," Duffy said, adding many are "required to lift heavy loads day after day and there's a cumulative effect of that."

Duffy said many workers, once too hurt to work, face lengthy recovery times. During this time, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has to cover their lost wages and medical expenses, a bill that cost roughly $140 million in 2008.

"There's a huge economic burden … as well as the pain and suffering that the workers face as a result of [workplace injuries]," Duffy said.

The workplace safety board said its goal is to eliminate "all workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses" by 2012.