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WorkSafeBC

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Initiatives for Manufacturing

Benefits of a Health & Safety Association in Manufacturing

WorkSafeBC is partnering with industry to develop a health and safety association specifically for the manufacturing sector. The proposed association will be a non-profit organization governed by a board of experts from the manufacturing sector. The association would function as a safety leader for the manufacturing industry by introducing safety initiatives that reduce worker injuries and costs for employers. It would also provide training programs that target current safety issues.

The association would be funded by a levy placed on employers in the manufacturing sector - approximately two to three cents per $100 of assessable payroll.

Download a copy of the support letter (PDF 61 KB).
Benefits of Joining a Safety Association
  • Improved health and safety culture
  • Opportunities to partner with other employers sharing industry-specific safety and training-related information
  • Access to industry-related health and safety programs and information
  • Sharing of best practices between member employers and with other safety associations
  • Access to dedicated health and safety professionals for consulting and training services
  • Assist the Manufacturing industry in developing standards, procedures, and guidelines to improve health and safety on the job site
  • Support the industry's network of labour-management health and safety committees
  • Long-term assistance in the reduction of work-related injuries, resulting in lower WorkSafeBC premiums
  • Opportunities to participate in the Certificate of Recognition (COR) program
Manufacturing's Certificate of Recognition (COR) Program

The COR program represents a partnership between WorkSafeBC, health and safety associations, and the employers they represent. The COR program recognizes and rewards employers who demonstrate commitment to workplace health and safety by having successful health and safety management systems.

The COR program is a voluntary program designed to assist employers with creating and managing systems that promote health and safety in the workplace and return to work for injured workers. In return, WorkSafeBC provides employers with financial incentives of rebates of up to 15% on their base rate, industry-recognized certification, and a quality assurance framework for continuous improvement.

Certifying partners

Certifying partners are health and safety associations recognized and funded by WorkSafeBC and supported by industry as having in-depth industry knowledge used to promote and develop workplace health and safety. In order for employers to be eligible for the COR program, they must be registered with a certifying partner.

What are the advantages of attaining a COR?
  • The program enables employers to earn a maximum of 15% rebate on their WorkSafeBC base rate:
  • Employers are recognized for their commitment to continuing improvement in their health and safety performance.

In order to successfully complete the COR program, employers will need to:

  • Be registered with WorkSafeBC
  • Register in the COR program through a certifying partner
  • Demonstrate that they have, or intended to develop, an Occupational Health and Safety and/or Return to Work Management Program
  • Meet or exceed health and safety/return to work requirements
  • Complete the required COR program coursework and training
  • Successfully complete a health and safety and/or return to work program audit
  • Maintain good standing with WorkSafeBC throughout the process

For more information on the COR program refer to Certificate of Recognition at WorkSafeBC.com.

Manufacturing's High-Risk Strategy (MHRS)

The Manufacturing Sector

B.C.'s manufacturing industries produce a wide variety of products, including aircraft parts, computers, foods, and other products that directly support the rest of our Province's key sectors.

Manufacturing played a key role in B.C.'s economy in 2007, generating 10.5 percent of the Province's total gross domestic product and providing employment for about 9 percent of the total workforce. This sector includes approximately:

  • 11,300 employers (9,300 of which are small employers)
  • 220,000 workers
Injury profile

Between 2003 and 2007, injured workers in the manufacturing sector accounted for:

  • Approximately 57,000 time-loss claims
  • Almost 2 million days lost
  • Over $750 million in claims cost

Currently, the main workplace health and safety issues facing this sector are: musculoskeletal injuries (MSI), injuries related to inadequate or absent safeguarding, and falls. The percentage of all accepted time-loss claims each type of injury represented from 2003-2007 is as follows:

Young workers in Manufacturing

Thirty percent of all young worker claims in B.C. occurred in the manufacturing sector. In 2007, young workers accounted for 17 percent of the STD/LTD/Fatal (SLF) claims and 13 percent of the serious injury claims in the Manufacturing sector.

The need for a Manufacturing High Risk Strategy (MHRS)

WorkSafeBC has reviewed both historical incidents and claims statistics and has identified four industries that have a greater risk of injuries and fatalities, when compared to other industry sectors. These higher hazard industries are: Construction, Forestry, Health care, and Manufacturing.

The MHRS is WorkSafeBC's multi-year prevention program for the manufacturing industry, and will involve concentrating time and resources to identified areas within the sector. This includes an increased focus on serious injuries, return-to-work programs, claims management, and duration reduction. The overall goal of the MRHS is to effect change and reduce injury, illness, disease, and death within the Manufacturing industry.

The MHRS focuses on industries within manufacturing that have a greater risk of serious injuries and fatalities than other sectors in the industry. WorkSafeBC looks at all factors of the industry, including individual Classification Units (CUs), sub‐sectors, employers, workers, and injury types in order to direct its efforts where it will be most effective.

High Risk Strategy Participants

The MHRS will focus on injury prevention activities for a specific group of CUs within the overall sector where 67% of all manufacturing-related lost time injuries occurred.

The 2009 MHRS will focus on the following 8 Manufacturing sector CUs:

  1. Cement manufacturing
  2. Concrete products
  3. Heavy equipment, machine parts, installation
  4. Machine shop
  5. Ready mix concrete manufacturing and delivery
  6. Stone, marble, cut, dress, shape, manufacturing
  7. Structural concrete product manufacturing
  8. Wire, cable or other wire products manufacturing

In addition, 295 employer locations were chosen for the compliance section of the MHRS. These employer locations accounted for 31 percent of all the STD/LTD/Fatal (SLF) claims accepted in 2007. Compliance, however, is just one of the components of the high risk strategy.

Resources

For more information on, see WorkSafeBC's Manufacturing Safety at Work web page.



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