Report highlights decreased injury and lost-time rates, healthier bottom line
Alberta’s Workers’ Compensation Board has released its annual report for 2009, which reveals a drop in both the time-lost claim rate and the disabling injury rate from 2008.
In 2009, the time-lost claim rate was 1.6 per 100 workers, down from 1.8 per 100 workers in 2008. And the disabling injury rate declined from 3.4 per 100 workers in 2008 to 2.8 per 100 workers in 2009.
“These are indicators that employers and workers continue to work together to achieve a safer Alberta,” said Thomas Lukaszuk, the province’s Minister of Employment and Immigration. “As 2010 unfolds, we must all remain focused on ensuring that every worker returns home safely after a hard day of work. In 2009, 110 workers did not make it home.”
David Carpenter, chair of the board of directors for the Workers’ Compensation Board, said they put a lot of emphasis on open and clear communication last year.
“Communication was crucial in our 2009 return-to-work efforts, as employers and workers were tested by a lagging economy and deteriorating job market,” he said. “Modified work discussions and extra efforts from all of our partners became critical to our endeavour to return injured workers to full employment. Those efforts helped mitigate the recessionary impacts of the economy, resulting in a very small increase in the average length of time injured workers were away from the job.”
By the numbers: 2009 Year at a Glance
|
|
2009 |
2008 |
|
Number of workers covered |
1,730,758 |
1,830,749 |
|
Time-lost claim rate (per 100 workers) |
1.6 |
1.8 |
|
Disabling-injury rate (per 100 workers) |
2.8 |
3.4 |
|
Number of new claims reported |
140,198 |
167,896 |
|
Number of time-lost claims |
27,100 |
32,800 |
|
New non-economic loss and permanent disability awards |
2,828 |
2,852 |
|
Fatality claims accepted |
110 |
166 |
|
Ineligible time-lost claims (% of all time-lost claims) |
8.4% |
7.5% |
|
Return-to-work percentage |
93.1% |
92.7% |
|
Claim costs (thousands) |
$704,728 |
$971,635 |
|
Registered employers |
137,273 |
140,184 |
|
Premium revenue (thousands) |
$908,456 |
$993,767 |
|
Average collected premium rate (per $100 of insurable earnings) |
$1.24 |
$1.33 |
|
Investment revenue (thousands) |
$219,996 |
$(421,333) |
|
Funded position (thousands) |
$1,433,193 |
$590,330 |
|
Funded ratio (per cent funded) |
128.4% |
111.7% |
The full report is available online as a PDF at www.wcb.ab.ca/pdfs/public/annual_report_2009.pdf
