Canadian Safety Reporter

april 2014 6 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 the association's board of directors will include two positions for workers but is concerned about how effective those positions will be in bringing about sig- nificant change. "We don't need to be just rubber stamping things," Moir said. "We need participation that is meaningful and pro- duces results for our members." high number of injuries According to SafeCare BC, the long-term care sector has the highest number of time-lost claims of any industry in the province. Long-term care workers face more time lost due to injury than those in manufacturing, construction and for- estry — industries more traditionally as- sociated with workplace injuries. "Because the injury rate is so high… we were created at the behest of the industry," said SafeCare BC's executive director Jennifer Lyle. "We're looking to be a member-driven organization that's responsive to the needs of the long-term care sector, whether that's providing training or access to educa- tion or developing sector-specific tools and resources." SafeCare BC will cover facilities pro- viding 24-hour skilled care and acting as the primary residence for clients. Fa- cilities operated by health authorities, substance abuse treatment centers and retirement homes are excluded from this list. In total, the association cov- ers 348 employers in the province. It is funded by employers registered with WorkSafeBC under the Long Term Care classification. "We expect that SafeCare BC will help reduce WorkSafeBC claims in the long-term care sector and support in- jured long-term care workers in safely returning to work more quickly," said WorkSafeBC's vice president of em- ployer, industry and worker services Ian Munroe. The fear that long-term care workers will be rushed back to work following an injury is one of the reasons the BC- GEU is approaching the new association with caution. "This should not be about suppress- ing injuries and getting people back to work as fast as you can," Moir said. "They want to minimize worker injury, but how do you do that? We want this to be about preventing those injuries in the first place. What kind of corrective measure are they prepared to implement in order to prevent these injuries from happening?" The vast majority of reported injuries in the long-term care sector are related to over-exertion or repetitive motion. Following closely behind are injuries caused by slips and trips as well as those resulting from violence or aggression, of- ten exhibited by patients. Managing a workforce with a high rate of injury can make it difficult for employers to retain workers and can lead to additional costs related to back- filling positions. high workers' comp premiums A high-risk industry like the long-term care sector is also subject to consider- able WorkSafeBC premiums, Lyle said. "We pay three-and-a-half times the health sector average in WorkSafeBC premiums," she said of employers in the sector. Just as costly — though less easily defined — is the toll working in a high- risk environment takes on employees. "As a front-line worker, if my risk of getting injured is lower I'm going to have a better quality of life," Lyle said. "It has a huge impact on everything from your home-life right through to your financial life." By engaging both employer organiza- tions and front-line workers — some- thing Lyle says SafeCare BC is uniquely positioned to do because of its status as an independent association — the new organization hopes to address industry concerns more effectively. In addition to bridging the gap be- tween front-line workers and employers, the association hopes to create connec- tions between the programs currently working in the province. "We're not looking to reinvent the wheel," Lyle said. "There's a strong de- sire among our members as well as with- in our organization to avoid duplication. Because there are a lot of great programs that are out there and it may be a ques- tion of those programs aren't known, or aren't specific enough to long-term care, or facilities just don't have the resourc- es to access them at this time. So what we're looking to do is leverage the great work that's been done in the sector and make that available to our members as well as make it applicable." Focus on prevention, not return-to-work: Union Continued from page 1 Credit: Andy Clark (Reuters) an unidentified resident in a nursing home looks out his window in surrey, B.c. the long-term care sector has the highest number of time-lost claims of any industry in the province, according to safecare Bc.

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