Nova Scotia serious injury rate lowest in 15 years • WCB Manitoba reports lower loss time injury rate in 2010 • WCB Manitoba boosts inspections around fall safety • CNIB leads workshops for construction workers in B.C. • Canadian Cancer Society ‘disappointed’ with Quebec government
Nova Scotia serious injury rate lowest in 15 years
Halifax — The Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) of Nova Scotia released its 2010 annual report revealing the number of serious injuries was 6,921. Despite improvements there is still a lot to do, the WCB said. In the past five years almost 120 people have died of workplace injury or illness. The 2010 numbers are down by more than 2,000 serious injuries compared to a decade ago. In 2000, there were 9,061 serious injuries on the job. In 2010, there were 40,000 fewer days at work lost due to injury. There has also been improvement in return to work statistics. The majority of workers, 95 per cent, return to work and make 100 per cent of their pre-injury earnings.
WCB Manitoba reports lower loss time injury rate in 2010
Winnipeg -- Manitoba saw a decrease in its loss time injury rate in 2010, according to the annunal report from the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board. The WCB’s reserves increased to $90 million, exceeding plans, according to the WCB. In 2010 the organization announced a new location in Brandon, to be open in 2012.non-unionized employers and employees. At the end of 2010 injury rates were down about 16.5 per cent since January 2008, according to Workers’ Compensation Board statistics.
Higher workplace fatality rates for Saskatchewan in 2010
REGINA — Saskatchewan had 45 workplace fatalities in 2010, up from 34 in 2009, according to the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). While the board reported its eight straight year of lower time-loss injury rates in 2010, fatalities were up in the same year. Of the fatalities, 16 were from occupational diseases. These deaths occurred from exposures in workplaces that happened years ago, according to the WCB . There were no fatalities for workers under the age of 25 in 2010 and the number of fatalities from a traumatic event declined, from 11 in 2009 to eight in 2010, it said. In addition to WCB fatality claims, there are about 14 deaths and more than 200 hospitalizations from farming and ranching work-related incidents every year. About 75 per cent of farm-related deaths and 50 per cent of farm-related injuries are machinery-related, said the WCB.
WCB Manitoba boosts inspections around fall safety
Winnipeg — The Workers’ Compensation Board of Manitoba is encouraging workers to use fall protection throughout prime roofing season. More than two people in the province die from a fall from heights every year, according to the WCB. This summer, inspectors will be paying particular attention to serious hazards such as falls. “Safety of roofers and all workers is always a high priority,” said Jennifer Howard, minister of labour and immigration. “To support safe workplaces we have added 20 inspectors, which has allowed us to more than double the number of inspections since 2000.” The province is also encouraging members of the public to report improper techniques to the Workplace Safety and Health Division this summer.
CNIB leads workshops for construction workers in B.C.
VANCOUVER — A province-wide series of workshops on vision safety has launched in British Columbia to raise awareness about eye-sight safety in the workplace. The British Columbia Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA) has joined the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), the BC Association of Optometrists and WorkSafeBC to promote the workshops. Brad Waghorn, the workshop leader, will blindfold the participants to allow them to experience how he lives on a daily basis. In the construction industry, injuries resulting in blindness or permanently reduced vision can result from construction materials hitting a worker in the face or dust or other fragments coming in contact with the worker’s eyes. The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation of the Workers Compensation Act, sets out workplace rules for the use of eye protection.
Canadian Cancer Society ‘disappointed’ with Quebec government
Asbestos, Que. -- The Canadian Cancer Society is “deeply disappointed” in the Quebec government’s conditional support for a project that could lead to the re-opening of a mine in Asbestos, Que. The society is responding to an announcement last week by Quebec Economic Development Minister Clement Gignac.The Quebec government has given its agreement in principle to the reopening of the Jeffrey Asbestos Mine, according to media reports. The offer is conditional on a consortium of investors lining up $25 million in financing by July 1. The consortium of Balcorp and partners is waiting for the province to announce if it will guarantee a $58-million loan guarantee to expand Jeffrey Mine operations, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Minister Gignac said his announcement affirms the Quebec government will continue to support the chrysotile asbestos industry, according to media reports.The Cancer Sociey is urging Premier Jean Charest to not approve the $58-million loan guarantee.
