Ontario workers' compensation board changes safety rebate program
If a worker is killed on the job in Ontario, the employer will no longer get a rebate from the province's workers' compensation board.
The changes are the result of a year-long review of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's (WSIB) safety incentive program following a Toronto Star investigation that revealed the board paid out millions of dollars in rebates to companies where an employee had died on the job.
The new policy states if a worker dies on the job, the employer will no longer be eligible for a cash rebate in the same year as the accident regardless of whether or not the firm broke a safety law.
The company could also be subject to a WSIB workplace audit and could face up to $500,000 in fines if it fails to address problems uncovered by the audit.
The WSIB's incentive program began in 1985 and measures a company's safety performance by the cost of its claims. If a company's costs are lower than projected, the company gets a rebate. If the claim costs are higher than expected, the company must pay a surcharge.
But under the program, a death and a minor injury are treated the same in that they both cost the company a certain amount of money.
In some cases, a death could be less expensive if the worker has no dependents to compensate. And since the program looks at costs associated with each claim for three years after the incident, a claim involving a chronic injury could end up costing the company more than a death.
The changes are the result of a year-long review of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's (WSIB) safety incentive program following a Toronto Star investigation that revealed the board paid out millions of dollars in rebates to companies where an employee had died on the job.
The new policy states if a worker dies on the job, the employer will no longer be eligible for a cash rebate in the same year as the accident regardless of whether or not the firm broke a safety law.
The company could also be subject to a WSIB workplace audit and could face up to $500,000 in fines if it fails to address problems uncovered by the audit.
The WSIB's incentive program began in 1985 and measures a company's safety performance by the cost of its claims. If a company's costs are lower than projected, the company gets a rebate. If the claim costs are higher than expected, the company must pay a surcharge.
But under the program, a death and a minor injury are treated the same in that they both cost the company a certain amount of money.
In some cases, a death could be less expensive if the worker has no dependents to compensate. And since the program looks at costs associated with each claim for three years after the incident, a claim involving a chronic injury could end up costing the company more than a death.
