Business Support
WCB works hard to help businesses develop their own SAFE Work plans and strategies and has developed a series of outreach and partnership programs to aid in this cause.
Learn more about some of these initiatives and programs:
- SAFE Work Services
- Partners in Prevention
- COR Program
- Experience Rating
- Training for employers, supervisors and workers
- Leadership Support
- SAFE Work Reports
- SAFEManitoba.com
SAFE Work Services
The SAFE Work Services team at the WCB can help employers prevent injuries, reduce their WCB assessment rate and help injured workers get back to health and work sooner.
We believe workplace safety is everyone's responsibility.
Safety has an impact on our client's bottom line, staff morale and the overall success of their business.
SAFE Work Services offers four main areas of service:
- Partners in Prevention Program
- Consulting
- Data Analysis
- Training.
Download the SAFE Work Services brochure.
SAFE Work Partners in Prevention
The SAFE Work Partners in Prevention program helps businesses identify ways to improve their safety and health and return to work programs, reduce the cost of injuries, and reduce their WCB premiums – with the ultimate goal of preventing workplace injuries.
SAFE Work Services team members are experts in injury prevention and return to work. They provide a variety of services through Partners in Prevention free of charge to WCB registered firms that include:
- injury and illness prevention program assessments
- return to work program assessments
- safety climate surveys
- recommendations for improvement
- business case development
- program implementation assistance
For more information, call 954-4501 or toll free 1-800-362-3340.
Read Partners in Prevention success stories:
Download the Partners in Prevention Brochure
COR Program
The WCB offers five and 10 per cent reduction in WCB assessment rates for construction firms that earn COR (Certificate of Recognition) certification and met certain other criteria.
COR is an occupational health and safety accreditation program that verifies a fully implemented safety & health program which meets national standards. The objectives of COR™ are to provide industry employers with an effective safety and health management system to reduce incidents, accidents and injuries as well as their associated human and financial costs.
Since the COR Incentive pilot program was introduced in 2007, the time loss injury rate in the construction industry has dropped from 8.8 per 100 full time equivalent workers in 2007 to 6.9 per 100 full time equivalent workers in 2009. The number of COR certified companies has grown from approximately 166 companies in 2006 to 440 as of January 1, 2011.
Experience Rating
The WCB's assessment rate setting system is based on a system of collective liability and experience rating. The costs of a single serious workplace injury could be enough to put some smaller employers out of business.
That's why the premiums most employers pay go into the accident fund, which collectively, is used to pay the benefits of injured workers. Employers pay premiums or assessments, based on the level of risk associated with the industry they are involved in.
Understandably, mining and logging firms pay higher assessments than flower shop owners due to the higher risk associated in those industries.
In simple terms, employer assessment rates are calculated by factoring the employer's injury experience and the collective injury experience of other employers who share the same level of risk.
Each year, the WCB sets assessment rates for employers. Assessment rates are calculated by examining the costs associated with a particular firm over the preceding 12 months. There are two kinds of costs: 1) direct costs which are composed of wage-loss, medical aid and rehabilitation expenses for the firm's injured workers and 2) indirect costs which are costs of running the workers compensation system that cannot be apportioned to any one claim, for example, administration.
These, along with a calculation that represents the collective injury experience of employers with comparable risk are used to determine a firm's assessment rate.
Rates for all employers are calculated using a rate setting model that seeks to:
- promote safe workplaces to reduce the number of injuries
- promote effective disability management in the event of workplace injuries
- ensure fairness for all employers and
- ensure the WCB generates adequate revenue.
The rate setting model accomplishes these objectives through a structure where all employers share the costs needed to pay the claims of injured workers and the cost of running the workers compensation system based on their own claims experience, the claims experience of their industry, and how these circumstances compare to average employers throughout the province.
Further, the model has limits in place to ensure excessive claims costs do not hinder employers ability to continue in business while still ensuring there is a connection between their claim experience and their rates.
The basis for all rates begins with the WCB's annually announced average rate. The average rate is the rate all employers would pay to fund the WCB's revenue requirements if the rate model were not experience based.
Training for Workers, Supervisors and Employers
SAFE Work Services of the WCB is committed to supporting workplaces in preventing injuries through education and safety programming. The department offers a number of workshops:
WCB Basics: A Guide to Working with the Workers Compensation Board
The day will be spent focusing on the key points of interaction between WCB, Employers and Workers including rate setting/managing costs, reporting injuries, decision making, dispute resolution, claims management, and the benefits of return to work programs.
RTW Basics:A Guide to Developing or Enhancing your Return to Work Program
The objective of the Return to Work Basics workshop is to gain an understanding of the basic components and best practices required to develop or enhance a workplace Return to Work Program. A well functioning RTW Program will support injured workers in their safe and timely return to work and assist in managing their WCB rates. It is recommended to participate in the WCB Basics workshop prior to registering for the RTW Basics workshop.
Injury Prevention
The objective of the Injury Prevention Workshop is to gain an appreciation of the importance of safety and an understanding of the basic requirements, challenges and strategies to build SAFE Work environment in your workplace.
The workshop will focus on assisting workplaces in understanding the importance of safety and the basic strategies necessary to prevent injury and illness in the workplace. Our workshop provides an overview on:
- costs of injuries and benefits of safety program
- legal obligations and responsibilities for injury prevention
- the core components required to Spot the hazard, Assess the risk, Find a safer way, Everyday
- the challenges and strategies of building a culture of safety.
Leadership Support
SAFEmanitoba.com features content, resources and information specifically targeted at leaders.
The Leadership section aims to encourage, engage and support leaders to develop safety and health programs in their organizations. The page will house leadership resources focused on promoting safety, preventing injuries and showcasing safety champions.
The resources on this page are intended to help employers and company leadership achieve two broad goals:
Protect healthy workers through the prevention of work-related injury and illness.
Improve the health and recovery of injured workers.
SAFE Work Reports
SAFE Work Reports are a series of reports available to WCB registered workplaces that provide information to help monitor and improve injury prevention and return to work outcomes.
The reports provide current, account specific information on a number of statistical areas such as:
- claim counts
- injury rates
- days paid
- costs
- assessment rates
- premiums
SAFEManitoba.com
The safemanitoba.com website is a repository of safety and health-related information for Manitoba workers and workplaces. The resources on the site help Manitobans build their knowledge and capacity to support safety and health in the province.
The website includes:
- current campaigns and contests
- bulletins and guidelines
- safety and health committee toolbox
- online permits
- training and events
- injury statistics
- Workplace Safety and Health Act and regulations
- hazard alerts
- multi-language publications