Safety Matters

The fourth annual Workplace Safety Workshop for small and medium businesses was held in Halifax in November to continue efforts to improve workplace safety.

The event, organized by WCB Nova Scotia and the Department of Labour and Advanced Education, covered topics such as fishing safety, the small business safety toolkit, safety mentoring, and education and training in health and community services.

Speakers at the event included the Honourable Kelly Regan, Minister of Labour and Advanced Education, Rodney Burgar, Chair of the Board of Directors for the WCB, and Stuart MacLean, WCB CEO. MacLean commended the 40 participants for their commitment to the vision of the Workplace Safety Strategy – to make Nova Scotia the safest place to work in Canada – and for making a difference through their leadership.

The number of workplace injuries in Nova Scotia is going down. Since 2010, all registered claims in small-medium enterprises covered by the WCB have dropped 13 per cent. Of those, time loss injuries have dropped by 18 per cent.

“We need to continue preventing injuries, and to build safety cultures in industries where they don’t exist today,” MacLean said.