May 5, 2013

MANITOBA SUPPORTS WORKERS, FAMILES AFFECTED BY WORKPLACE INJURY: HOWARD

Manitoba will provide $10,000 to Threads of Life, a non-profit organization that supports workers and families affected by workplace injuries and illnesses, Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard announced today at an event in Kildonan Park.
“Workers and families affected by workplace injuries truly benefit from the compassionate and specialized supports available through Threads of Life,” said Howard.  “We believe every worker in Manitoba deserves to go home safely but, until that goal is a reality, it’s important to know there is an organization staffed by caring volunteers to support workers and their families.”
Threads of Life is a national network of volunteers who have been personally affected by a workplace tragedy.  In partnership with provincial governments and workers’ compensation boards, they help families through:

• offering personalized support to family members and friends who have suffered from a workplace tragedy;
• organizing regional forums for families to build coping, listening and healing skills;
• connecting families to professional support services; and
• providing opportunities to speak about injury prevention and creating awareness through public speaking and other events.

The organization is holding a Steps for Life Family Walk in Kildonan Park today to raise awareness, featuring a memory lane of signs to honour and remember victims of workplace injuries.
The province recently announced a strategic action plan to prevent workplace injury and illness, which includes plans to:

• double funding for prevention services,
• invest in resources that will ensure every high school student has access to workplace health and safety information,
• require mandatory safety orientation for new workers, and
• provide more ways for the public to report unsafe workplaces including a one-stop phone number for reporting unsafe workplace or injuries.

Complete details on the province’s action plan are available online at: www.gov.mb.ca/labour/safety/index.html.
More information about Threads of Life is available at http://threadsoflife.ca/.

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November 2, 2012

PROVINCE LAUNCHES REVIEW OF WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD PROCESS FOR SETTING EMPLOYER RATES

The provincial government is launching an external review of the Workers Compensation Board’s (WCB’s) process for setting employer premiums, which will look for ways to strengthen employer incentives for more effective injury prevention while targeting the illegal practice of claim suppression, Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard announced today.
The minister said Paul M. Petrie of British Columbia, an expert on workplace safety and health issues, will work with the WCB and Manitoba Family Services and Labour staff to conduct the review, gathering input from groups across the province that represent injured workers, employers and organized labour.
“The review will help us in our development of a new injury-prevention strategy to transform the way we approach workplace injury and illness,” said Howard.  “The current method used to assess WCB’s employer premiums has been in place for over 10 years.  While it has mostly worked well, the review will look at ways to improve it by ensuring that injuries are reported and prevention efforts are rewarded.”
A separate, comprehensive analysis of injury-prevention activities in the province is currently underway to help reduce the number of workplace injuries and time-loss injury rates.  This analysis began in June and is a collaborative effort between industry, labour, stakeholders, the WCB, the Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health, and Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health.
The report on the WCB’s process for setting employer rates is to be submitted to the minister in the spring of 2013.
Over the last decade, the government has increased the number of safety and health officers, and inspections of Manitoba workplaces, updated safety and health legislation, improved training and launched the SAFE Work public awareness campaign, Howard said, adding this has led to a 41 per cent reduction in Manitoba’s time-loss injury rate.
More information on workplace safety and health in Manitoba is available at www.SAFEMANITOBA.com.

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October 31, 2008

REGULATIONS IN PLACE TO ADD INDUSTRIES UNDER WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD


Regulations are now in place to include more workers under the Workers Compensation Board (WCB), adding over 30 industries, Labour and Immigration Minister Nancy Allan, minister responsible for the board, announced today.

“Covering additional industries provides wage replacement and health-care treatment for workers. Employers will also receive protection against lawsuits for workplace injuries and illness,” said Allan. “Once the new workers and industries are added by the WCB, an outreach effort will be launched to encourage voluntary coverage for industries not covered by the WCB.”

The province had announced earlier this summer that additional industries would be brought under the Workers Compensation Board. Today, regulations to this effect were put in place.

The additional industries join those already covered by the WCB, effective Jan. 1, 2009. An extensive review and public consultations resulted in the additional industries being covered by regulation. The consultations included a mail out of 43,000 consultation packages by the WCB.

Up to 30,000 more workers and 7,500 potential employers will now be covered by WCB. In January 2007, the Manitoba government extended compulsory WCB coverage to about 6,400 workers.

The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba had the second-lowest average assessment rate in Canada in 2006 and 2007 and the third-lowest in 2008. The time-loss injury rate has also decreased by 25 per cent since 2000.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ATTACHED