The Manitoba government has proclaimed the Workers Compensation Amendment Act, which puts in place new measures to protect workers and prevent injuries in the workplace. This announcement was made by Labour and Immigration Minister Erna Braun.
“Every worker in Manitoba deserves to come home safe at the end of the day,” said Minister Braun. “This new law is one more step toward making the province the safest place to work in North America.”
The amendments establish a prevention committee as part of the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) to oversee and provide guidance to the Manitoba government’s new workplace prevention initiative known as SAFE Work Manitoba. It will provide oversight to SAFE Work Manitoba on prevention initiatives, public awareness campaigns, and strategic planning and budgeting.
The amendments also broaden worker protection by increasing penalties and requiring an employer who takes discriminatory action against a worker to prove the action was unrelated to the worker making a claim.
Minister Braun said Bill 65 builds on a Five-year Plan for Workplace Injury and Illness Prevention. In addition to establishing Safe Work Manitoba, Bill 65 commits to introduce greater rewards for employers who take action to make workplaces safer, higher penalties for employers who suppress claims and greater clarity around responsibilities for reporting workplace injuries. The new compliance measures will come into force in January 2015.
The minister noted that in addition to improved enforcement, a comprehensive review of the WCB rate model is currently underway, aimed at encouraging real prevention, strengthening system accountability and removing financial incentives to minimize or suppress claims.
“We know from WCB research that claim suppression is happening far too often, to far too many workers,” said Minister Braun. “New staff and resources are being put in place to investigate allegations of claim suppression. This amendment will complement that work.”
Minister Braun said the new law builds upon Manitoba’s commitment to being a national leader in workplace health and safety by:
- doubling the number of health and safety officers enforcing health and safety laws in Manitoba workplaces; increasing the number of workplace health and safety inspections by more than eight times to over 14,000 in 2014 from 1,600 in 1999;
- expanding WCB coverage for injured workers to 37,000 new workers, the first expansion since the 1960s;
- amending the Workplace Safety and Health Act to allow safety officers to stop work at unsafe work sites, give workers the right to refuse unsafe work and create a new chief prevention officer; and
- passing legislation to protect highway workers and first responders working on highways and roads.
Minister Braun also noted in 2014, the focus for workplace safety was on a number of key projects including:
- consolidation of training – the safety and health training previously delivered by the WCB and Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) will be consolidated and enhanced under SAFE Work Manitoba;
- WSH committee leadership conference – the first annual event took place Sept. 30 and brought together workplace safety and health committee leaders to network and exchange best practices on safety and health;
- SAFE Work on Wheels – a new mobile unit was launched Sept. 26 to help deliver safety and health training to workers who may, because of the nature of their employment or their location, have difficulty accessing conventional training;
- safety and health materials for new businesses – materials were enhanced and are being distributed to all new Manitoba businesses; and
- single point of contact – launching a single phone number to provide workers and employers with a wide range of information, services and programs provided by SAFE Work Manitoba, the WCB and WSH.
For more information, visit www.safemanitoba.com.
