MAKE SAFETY A HABIT
Saskatchewan has become a safer place to work over the past 20 years
It has been 20 years since the launch of North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week, a fact that is surprising even to some workplace safety professionals.
“I was around when the first one happened. It’s a great example of how things have changed,” said Peter Federko, CEO of the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). “I do recall attending the lunches every year, but today the passion and engagement around NAOSH Week has multiplied greatly. It’s about being engaged by others about how to make safety a priority in the workplace.”
In Saskatchewan, workplaces have clearly been taking the message of NAOSH Week and Mission: Zero to heart and looking at ways to create a culture of safety. According to WCB statistics, Saskatchewan’s 2016 total workplace injury rate was 5.55 per cent, an 11.9 per cent drop from 2015. The time loss injury rate decreased from 2.07 per cent to 1.86 per cent. Time loss claims fell by 604 claims to 7,813, while total claims fell 2,220 from 2015, an 8.69 percent decrease.
“A couple of reasons for the improvements have been the ability to highlight the significance of the problem and provide education to break the myth that these are accidents that would happen anyway and there’s nothing that can be done to prevent them,” Federko said. “We believe every injury is preventable.”
A major step in curving the workplace injury trend happened in 2002 with the launch of WorkSafe Saskatchewan, a partnership between the WCB and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety. It was around this time that the time loss injury rate had peaked at 4.95 per cent.
In 2008, WorkSafe Saskatchewan launched Mission: Zero, developed as a call to action and a goal for employers and companies to achieve zero workplace injuries, with a symbol of a stop-sign red button. Over 350 companies and organizations in Saskatchewan now abide by Mission: Zero.
“When we launched Mission: Zero, I remember people saying, ‘You’re crazy to think you can eliminate all injuries’, but many workplaces in the province have thought contrary,” Federko said. “In 2016, 88 per cent of workplaces went injury free.”
In 2010, WorkSafe created the Health and Safety Leadership Charter, a document business and community leaders were asked to sign and show their commitment to seven principles of health and safety. Today there are over 600 charter signatories.
Federko notes that in addition to the efforts of WorkSafe, the companies and individuals who have bought into the messages deserve a lot of credit.
“One of our pillars in the WorkSafe strategy has been to achieve our goals through partnerships and relationships,” he said. “Through the development of those relationships and partnerships, we’re able to garner support and passion. The community and business leaders deserve a lot of credit; through their advocacy and leadership they have really inspired cultural change within their workplaces.”
One of the ways in which the business community has stepped up to the plate has been hiring full-time safety officials to implement and/or ensure safe practices are being followed. Steve Wallace, a senior program consultant with the Heavy Construction Safety Association of Saskatchewan, has seen a dramatic shift.
“Twenty years ago there were maybe one or two companies in the heavy construction industry that had safety employees. Now, we probably have 100 or 200 companies,” he said. “In any work culture there’s got to be recognition. Just the fact that these safety employees are there and companies are recognizing that they need to look after safety is positive for the culture.
“Whether the employees are part-time or full-time, they have a valuable role to play. By hiring these employees, companies are helping to ensure that fewer injuries will happen by having a plan in place to eliminate or mitigate the risks.”
While Saskatchewan has come a long way when it comes to improving workplace safety, the province has still not reached Mission: Zero. With 12 per cent of companies not having achieved the goal, Federko said the focus is on targeting those workplaces.
“We’re targeting workplaces that would benefit the most from our assistance, looking at claim volumes, time lost rates and other indicators to see which ones have set themselves apart from the rest of their industry,” Federko said. “We personally go and visit those workplaces and help them establish a safety management system and follow up with audits to see if they remain committed to the plan.”