Healthy workplace briefs

Construction surge brings injuries • A week to celebrate healthy workplaces • Resisting overwork • New WCB regulations proposed

Construction surge brings injuries

Vancouver
— British Columbia’s building boom has been accompanied by a sharp rise in workers falling from rooftops. More than 400 falls during the last five years have accounted for $32 million in Workers’ Compensation Board claims. In addition to stepping up enforcement of regulations, the board is launching an awareness campaign to encourage employers to ensure restraint harnesses are used.

A week to celebrate healthy workplaces

Toronto
— Today (Oct. 20) marks the start of Canada’s Healthy Workplace Week (CHWW) 2003. This year’s theme is healthy workplace planning. Before jumping to the implementation stage, employers have to make sure they know their organizational needs. CHWW began in 2001 to increase awareness about the importance of healthy workplaces to both the short-term and long-term success of organizations. For more on how organizations can participate go to www.
healthyworkplaceweek.ca

Resisting overwork

Glendale, Calif.
— Friday (Oct. 24) is Take Back Your Time day in the United States, a day where “thousands, perhaps millions, of Americans will ‘just say no’ to the overwork, over-scheduling and overstress that threaten to overwhelm our lives,” according to the Web site www.simpleliving.net/
timeday. The day is a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell University and the Simplicity Forum. The date falls nine weeks before the end of the year, the time that Americans now work more each year than Western Europeans do.

New WCB regulations proposed

Halifax
— Nova Scotia’s Workers’ Compensation Board recommended last month that the government eliminate the three worker rule, which would result in legal protection for employers not required to register with the WCB. The board also called for an increase in the maximum assessable/insurable earnings. This will allow workers to receive compensation based on a greater percentage of their earnings.

To read the full story, login below.

Not a subscriber?

Start your subscription today!