4 more components added to Alberta's OHS plan • New program for OHS on the farm in Manitoba • Direct deposit service available Jan. 1, 2011 in Ontario • Changes to Ontario's labour market re-entry program • WorkSafeNB announces premium rates for 2011 • Northwest Territories/Nunavut assessment rates for 2011
ALBERTA
4 more components added to OHS plan
With four items on the 10-point occupational health and safety plan completed, the Alberta government is adding the following four new initiatives to its occupational health and safety plan.
•Identifying new ways to reduce work-related motor vehicle incidents, including a new best practices guide and e-learning program.
•Identifying new ways to reduce work-related diseases such as the province’s department of employment and immigration establishing an occupational disease prevention program.
•Formalizing the process to ensure family input is sought on each and every occasion that involves a creative sentence.
•Making the enforcement system even stronger including hiring an additional eight OHS officers to bring the total to 102.
MANITOBA
New program for OHS on the farm
In December 2010, Safe Work Manitoba will be rolling out the new Safe Farms Check program. This program will be available to all Manitoba farmers who are interested in developing a system to address occupational health and safety on their farms. After developing a program, farmers will be eligible to receive incentives from various local service providers and safety suppliers. The program consists of a five-step process:
•register for the program
•receive training on the program, including the requirements to complete it
•develop a safety and health program specific to the farming operation
•conduct a self-assessment of the completed program then have someone from Workplace Safety and Health assess the program
•take the completed program documents to the incentive providers to receive the incentives.
Throughout the program, farmers will write a policy outlining commitment to health and safety; identify and control hazards; establish responsibilities; and evaluate and revise the program as needed.
ONTARIO
Direct deposit service available Jan. 1, 2011
Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has introduced direct deposit services for biweekly loss of earnings (LOE) benefit payments for those with locked-in LOE benefits and to the most vulnerable workers. Starting Jan. 1, 2011, workers receiving biweekly benefit payments for six months or longer who are involved in labour market re-entry or medical rehabilitation efforts will be able to request this service through their case manager. WSIB is implementing this service due to the difficulty of some workers to travel to the bank to deposit cheques because of mobility issues or because they live in remote areas of the province. There have also been concerns about mail delivery delays and the WSIB said the introduction of direct deposit for benefit payments will give workers peace of mind.
Changes to labour market re-entry program
Effective Dec. 1, 2010, the interim work reintegration policies will come into effect. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) will integrate its labour market re-entry and return-to-work programs into a new work reintegration program. The new program will:
•maintain the relationship between the worker and the original employer •provide employers with the opportunity to be involved in the development of work reintegration plans
•provide direct oversight by the WSIB for all re-training services for injured workers
•increase worker input and choice in their vocational goals
•make greater use of Ontario’s public education system for injured worker re-training
•provide workers with marketable skills and valid credentials.
Stakeholders can submit their responses to this new program until Feb. 15, 2011.
NEW BRUNSWICK
WorkSafeNB announces premium rates for 2011
WorkSafeNB announced a decrease in the provisional average assessment rate for New Brunswick employers with three or more employees. Improved investment returns and reduced accident frequency and costs warranted an average rate reduction of four per cent from $2.08 per $100 of payroll in 2010 to $2 in 2011. The maximum assessment rate will also be reduced from $0.35 per $100 of payroll to $0.32. Of New Brunswick’s 14,100 employers, 84 per cent will see their rate decrease.
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES/NUNAVUT
Assessment rates for 2011
The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WHCC) of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut set the provisional average assessment rate for 2011 at $1.73 per $100 of payroll. The year’s maximum insurable remuneration is increasing by 10 per cent for 2011 to $82,720.
