CPO will ensure more Manitobans go home safe: Howard
Manitoba's new Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) will lead a review of provincial workplace safety and health services to provide clear direction on injury prevention priorities, address stakeholder concerns and improve the safety of Manitoba workplaces, said Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard.
"As we mark the annual Day of Mourning, it's important that we continue to strengthen our efforts to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses," said Howard. "We have doubled the number of health and safety officers and reduced the time-loss injury rate by more than 40 per cent over the last decade, and this review will renew our commitment to ensure all Manitobans go home safe after work."
The CPO position is designed to enhance co-ordination of prevention initiatives between the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Division and the Workers Compensation Board (WCB), and to continue to improve Manitoba's workplace injury and illness prevention strategy, Howard said.
The CPO will be responsible for:
•overseeing development and implementation of the joint WSH-WCB injury and illness prevention strategy
•ensuring public awareness and prevention activities promote understanding of and compliance with WSH enforcement efforts
•ensuring delivery of effective public-awareness programs and prevention activities
Manitoba will renew funding for a $20,000 grant program aimed at stimulating creativity in Manitoba schools to develop innovative projects encouraging and educating students on workplace safety, as well as a $10,000 grant for Threads of Life, an organization that provides peer-to-peer support to victims and families of workplace tragedies in Manitoba, Howard said.
Manitoba recently created a victims services co-ordinator position at WSH to assist families and workers in accessing information on the status of their investigations and to help link them with additional support services.
