More than 130 firms, community leaders pledge commitment to workplace health and safety
More than 130 employers and community leaders in Saskatchewan have declared their commitment to workplace health and safety by signing the province’s Health & Safety Leadership Charter.
About 200 people attending the official signing on June 10, and Safe Saskatchewan and WorkSafe Saskatchewan said the ceremony is now going to be an annual event.
"For years, Saskatchewan has had the dubious distinction of having the second worst injury rate in Canada and the highest rate in Canada for injuries that occur outside of the workplace,” said Gord Moker, CEO of Safe Saskatchewan. “There is an attitude here that injuries are inevitable. We as leaders felt it was time to stand together to create a cultural change — in our own organizations and in the wider community. This charter is about publicly committing to that change."
WorkSafe Saskatchewan and Safe Saskatchewan partnered to create the event to “publicly declare our commitment to injury prevention within our organizations and our communities,” said Peter Federko, CEO of the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board.
“Our goal is that safety be adopted as a core value which will result in an attitudinal and behavioural change in our province," said Federko. "The cost of injury in this province is astronomical — financially and emotionally.
About the charter
The principles in the charter are adapted from the Conference Board of Canada's CEO Health and Safety Leadership Charter.
"The principles in the Conference Board Charter were substantially what we wanted for Saskatchewan and Conference Board was gracious enough to allow us to modify them for our purposes,” said Moker. “Here in Saskatchewan, we are honoured that we had an abundance of leaders step forward to take part in this important event — not just in the private sector, but leaders in our public sector, educational institutions, and other organizations."
WorkSafe Saskatchewan and Safe Saskatchewan had hoped to partner with Conference Board on this event and have the encouragement of the Conference Board, and the Conference Board has been watching the action in Saskatchewan with interest.
"They are impressed," says Federko. "Nationally, they had just under 70 signatories at their first signing, and we have about 130 companies represented at this inaugural event. We think a partnership with them is a definite possibility in the future."
By the numbers
•Saskatchewan has the second worst workplace time-loss injury record in the country.
•Away from work, Saskatchewan's injury hospitalization rate is twice the national average.
•Unintentional injury means an injury caused by an incident such as a fall, motor vehicle collision, drowning, poisoning and electrocution.
•Saskatchewan's death rate due to unintentional injury is 1.4 times higher than the national average.
•Unintentional injuries have a negative impact on the individual, their family, their workplace and Saskatchewan communities' growth and viability.
•Every year, preventable injuries create a drain of $1 billion on the provincial economy.
About Safe Saskatchewan and WorkSafe Saskatchewan
Safe Saskatchewan is a provincial consortium of public, private, cooperative and non-profit sector founding partner organizations. The not-for-profit organization aims to raise awareness of the impact of unintentional injuries in Saskatchewan, coordinate provincial injury prevention initiatives, and support all organizations and programs undertaking injury prevention in the province.
WorkSafe Saskatchewan is an injury prevention and workplace safety partnership between the WCB and the Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour. Through the partnership, both agencies offer programs and support that help employers and workers develop workplace health and safety programs.
Mission: Zero was founded in 2008 as an initiative to eliminate workplace injuries in Saskatchewan. In 2010, Safe Saskatchewan adopted Mission: Zero for its awareness campaign. The intent behind Mission: Zero is to bring about faster and deeper reductions to the provincial injury rate.
