CANADA Alberta 58 Percent of Employers to See No Change or Reduction in 2012 Premiums

Fifty-eight percent of Alberta (Canada) employers will see no change or a reduction on their 2012 WCB premiums, according to a report from Alberta’s WCB.

Good performance means that top employers and their workers have developed suitable strategies to help those injured on the job recover at work, in a more positive environment than alone at home.

On the flip side, WCB-Alberta’s poor performance program aims to galvanize 1,600 poor performing employers to take immediate action to improve return-to-work planning and injury prevention practices. The strategy is working.

In 2012, 592 employers joined the PPS program, while 710 employers have improved their performance significantly enough to leave the program behind.

“We all share responsibility for getting better at managing workplace injuries,” said Guy Kerr, president and CEO of WCB-Alberta. “Modified work, investments in safety and prevention, safety associations, occupational injury clinics, and many more of our joint initiatives are making a difference.”

Key 2011/2012 Trends

The number of workers with lost-time claims is expected to increase to approximately 27,400 (7.5 per cent) for this year and 3.7 per cent next year.

Average claim duration is expected to increase somewhat to 37.2 days in 2011 and 38 days in 2012.

Fully-funded claim costs are also on the rise as WCB forecasts year-end costs of $748.1 million, with another increase of 6.5 per cent expected for 2012.

Worker wage protection will also increase in 2012. WCB has raised the maximum insurable income (MIE) level to $86,700.

Alberta employers mitigated these inflationary trends through long-term investments in safety and return-to-work programs so that overall injury trends remained stable, leading to positive expectations for 2012. (WCxKit)

The lost-time claim rate should remain stable at 1.5 lost-time claims per 100 covered workers for the third year in a row.

The disabling injury rate is expected to remain steady at 2.8 per 100 covered workers.

Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He is an editor and contributor to Workers Compensation Management Program: Reduce Costs 20% to 50%. Contact: Info@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com.

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