NLIS 4
August 15, 2003
(Labour)

 

Minister commends trends in occupational health and safety in province

Percy Barrett, Minister of Labour, announced today that the work of the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission and the Occupational Health and Safety Division (OHS) of the Department of Labour toward lowering the number accidents and lost-time injuries in the province is showing very positive results.

"This work is exceptionally important," said Minister Barrett. "We are aiming for a province where good health and safety practices are an integral part of the workplace culture. A great deal of work goes into that effort each and every day. Occupational health and safety officers and commission advisors visit worksites throughout the province working with employers to enhance the health and safety of employees in the workplace. The commission, as part of its prevention mandate, works with priority firms and offers health and safety audits to identify hazards at the worksite. In addition, the commission's new early and safe return to work program is helping those workers injured on the job to return to the workforce as safely and quickly as possible. Together these two agencies are making great strides toward establishing health and safety in the workplace as a priority in this province."

And their efforts are working. Since 2000, there have been several significant decreases in the number of accidents and lost-time injuries in the province. In particular, since 2000 there has been a:

  • decrease in the total number of claims by 1,179 or 10 per cent from 2001 and 2,862 or 22 per cent from 2000;
  • decrease in new lost-time injuries by 633 or 10 per cent from 2001, and 1,042 or 16 per cent from 2000;
  • decrease in new health care only (no lost-time) claims by 546 or 11 per cent from 2001, and 1,820 or 29 per cent from 2000;
  • a 16 per cent decrease in the overall incidence rate (number of accidents per 100 workers) over the last two years;
  • decrease in soft-tissue injuries as a percentage of total lost-time claims by five per cent from 2001 and 10 per cent from 2000;
  • decrease in average short-term claims duration by nine days or eight per cent since 2001 and 26 days or 20 per cent since 2000;
  • decrease in total claims costs by $27.3 million (18 per cent) from 2001 and $45.4 million (37 per cent) from 2000; and
  • an increase in the funded position to 71.7 per cent from 67.5 per cent in 2001 and 65.2 per cent in 2000.

In June 2003, the commission released its provincial Accident Prevention Strategy, which has been developed with careful, consideration and due consultation with stakeholders. It is an integrated approach where everyone has a responsibility for carrying it out and it will serve as a short term guide for developing action plans to cultivate and achieve a safety culture.

"These are significant numbers," said Minister Barrett. "They could not have been accomplished without the contribution and cooperation of business and labour, in particular in their endorsement and application of the report of the Task Force on Workers' Compensation submitted to government in the spring of 2001, and they should be congratulated for their efforts. Our ultimate goal is to make workplaces in this province safer and healthier, and to have injured workers return to work safely and in a more timely manner than in the past."

Media contact: Janice Lockyer, Communications, (709) 729-1741

2003 08 15                                      2:15 p.m.


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