Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Mr. Bromley to the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission on June 4, 2012, regarding WSCC health and safety performance. The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission is responsible to administer the Workers’ Compensation Act and the Safety Act and, as such, regularly evaluate the health and safety performance of large employers, including the GNWT, under the Safe Advantage program.
Safe Advantage is a safety incentive program, developed in response to recommendations of the government-sponsored Act Now report, calling for greater fairness and employer accountability in the areas of compensation claim costs and safety. The program provides for refunds to employers with proven safety and return to work practices and low claims cost experience. Employers with poor safety and return to work practices and poor claims cost experience are required to pay penalties.
As part of the Safe Advantage program, management practices are evaluated. Employers must complete a Management Practices Questionnaire that includes two sections: prevention and return to work. The prevention section evaluates the employer’s health and safety program. The return to work section assesses how the employer reintroduces injured workers to safe and productive employment that eliminates or minimizes wage loss as soon as medically safe to do so.
An employer must achieve a verified score of 70 percent for each section of the questionnaire to pass. A failing grade on either section results in failing the questionnaire. For employers already receiving a penalty for high claims cost experience, their penalty is increased by 50 percent for failing to
implement adequate prevention and return to work programs.
Under the Workers’ Compensation Act, the GNWT, as represented by the Minister responsible for the Public Service Act, is an employer. As such, the WSCC evaluates the claims cost experience and the requirements for establishing health and safety programs and committees for the GNWT as a whole. Establishing and tracking at the departmental level is an internal responsibility to the GNWT. In support of the GNWT, the WSCC has provided a breakdown of claims cost experience by department and agency.
Over the last three years, claims cost experience for the GNWT has more than doubled. Last year the costs were 60 percent above a sustainable level, based on assessments paid by the GNWT into the Workers’ Protection Fund. This increase in claims cost experience has resulted in increasing Safe Advantage claims experience penalties.
In the year prior to the current Safe Advantage program year, the GNWT Management Practices Questionnaire was verified based on the Department of Human Resources office in Yellowknife. That verification resulted in the GNWT’s first passing score for health and safety programs, and for that year no additional penalty was applied beyond the claims experience penalty.
To ensure GNWT health and safety programs are being fully implemented to protect all GNWT employees across the GNWT, the WSCC verified the current year questionnaire based on an alternative location. This practice of selecting a random location for verification is used for any employer with numerous operating locations. The GNWT was given four weeks’ notice as to the location of the verification. The final result for the GNWT this program year was 33 percent on prevention and 90 percent on return to work. This score of less than 70 percent resulted in an additional penalty being applied.
GNWT Safe Advantage penalties have risen from zero dollars in the 2009-2010 program year to $243,583 in 2010-2011 and $508,625 in 2011-2012. Although the Department of Human Resources has taken significant steps in the development of health and safety programs in the last few years, current results demonstrate that there is work to be done across the GNWT to ensure the safety of all of our employees and to reduce claims cost experience.
Mr. Speaker, the WSCC’s vision is to eliminate workplace diseases and injuries. They have been working with and are committed to continuing to work with the GNWT to ensure workplace safety and care for workers. The health and safety of our workers needs to be a priority of this government and it is each of our responsibility to ensure we
make this happen. Later today I will table this document.