A local woman has been recognized for her commitment to promoting safety when on the job. Audrey MacMurchy, who works at Kingston Midstream (KM) Ltd. in Estevan, is the winner of the WorkSafe . . .
Workers in Saskatchewan were safer, despite the number of deaths remaining nearly the same. According to the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WBC), the workplace injury rate in the . . .
The 2020 time loss injury rate is the lowest rate in more than a decade. “Although the reductions in the Total injury and Time Loss injury rates are a step in the right direction,” says Minister Responsible for WCB, Don Morgan, “Every workplace injury in Saskatchewan is one too many. We cannot become complacent in our efforts to make all workplaces safe.” The total amount of claims have also decreased with just shy of 17,950 claims in 2020, compared to over 21,400 in 2019. There were fewer workers covered in 2020; however, as 402,000 were covered, a decrease from the over 433,000 in 2019. Although time loss and total injury rates have seen a slow and steady decline, there remains a consistent number of serious injuries and fatalities (approximately 2,500 annually) that are accepted by the WCB. There were 34 workplace fatalities in 2020, compared to 36 in 2019. This is a decrease of six per cent.These deaths occurred in a variety of Saskatchewan industries.
By Ryan Young
Apr 30, 2021 6:36 PM
There was no significant increase in claims to the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board related to the pandemic last year.
CEO Phil Germain says over 330 COVID-19 claims were submitted and about 65 per cent were accepted.
Of the remainder, about 75 per cent didn’t have the virus.
Their tests came back negative, but they had submitted a claim to be proactive.
Of those that had COVID but weren’t accepted, there transmission was traced back to a source that wasn’t work related.
Germain suggests if there is any silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that it seems to have heightened the sense of managing safety in the workplace.