Provincial injury rate decreased but duration of claims increased
Declining injury rates and payroll growth have helped the Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board weather the turbulent investment markets and post a $10.9-million surplus in 2008.
As a result, the WCB won't need to increase employer premiums, which sit at $1.66 per $100 of payroll, to offset the poor investment climate.
So far in 2009, workplace injury claims are trending lower and the investment income should level off at about $40 million for 2009, said WCB CEO Peter Federko.
Investment income declined from 39 per cent of total revenues in 2007 to just eight per cent in 2008 and premium income jumped from 61 per cent to 92 per cent of total income. The growth in payroll more than offset the reduction in premium rates in 2008, said Federko.
The provincial injury rate fell to 3.7 time-loss claims per 100 workers, down from 3.8 in 2007 and the seventh-consecutive decrease. But the average duration of time-loss claims increased by one day to 33.1 days in 2008.
The injury rate, while 25 per cent lower than its peak of 4.95 in 2002, remains the second-highest in the country after Manitoba and well above the national average of 2.26.
