Workplace Injuries are down in Saskatchewan in 2017, compared to the year before according to Saskatchewan’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB).
The WCB released the total injury rates, and in 2017 there were 28,952 reported workplace injuries, a decrease of 1,001 from 2016, or 3.36 per cent.
In 2017 there were 27 workplace fatalities in Saskatchewan which is also down from 2016. That year saw 31 workplace fatalities.
For the second year in a row, 88 per cent of Saskatchewan employers had zero injuries.
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“Thanks to the injury prevention efforts of workers, employers and safety partners around the province, we have seen significant reductions in Saskatchewan’s injury rates,” said WCB chairperson Gord Dobrowolsky.
“Since we launched Mission: Zero in 2008, workers, leaders, employers and the public have responded to make Saskatchewan workplaces safer.”
Despite the total injury rate drop, the Time Loss injury rate remained the same at 1.86 per cent in 2017. Time loss claims increased from 7,813 in 2016 to 7,888 in 2017.
“It is encouraging to see injury rates continue to decline in Saskatchewan,” said Don Morgan, minister of labour relations and workplace safety.
“However, we must continue to work diligently with safety partners and employers to strengthen safety cultures in workplaces and industries.”
According to the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards in Canada (AWCBC), Saskatchewan had the third highest time-loss injury rate in Canada in 2016.