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Serious injuries and fatalities in petroleum industry
reduces productivity says WCB
Supporting documents
- Backgrounder (PDF 110kb)
Richmond, B.C., April 29, 2004 — According to WCB statistics, B.C.'s petroleum industry lost almost 120,000 productive workdays and paid out nearly $46 million in claim costs as a result of 1,408 claims which included 65 serious injuries* and 32 fatalities in the five years 1998 - 2002.
From 1998 to 2002 the average cost of a general claim in the petroleum industry was $23,000 while a typical serious claim was $103,000. In that same five years the average duration of a general claim was 79 days and a typical serious claim 189 days.
When speaking to the Petroleum Industry Annual Safety Seminar in Banff today Betty Pirs, Industry and Labour Services Director for the WCB's Program Design Division, said, "We in partnership with you in the petroleum industry are tackling serious injuries through the development of programs such as the Certificate of Recognition."
Pirs' message at the conference is intended to raise awareness of both the human and financial costs that are the result of serious workplace accidents. Partnership initiatives between the industry and WCB are created to reduce those impacts.
Pirs said, "The oil and gas industry is a major contributor to the B.C. economy and will be expanding. This industry has an injury rate below the provincial average; but, we all know that when we work together and create proactive partnerships there will be a further positive effect on the health and safety of its workers."
To increase health and safety for workers in the petroleum industry in British Columbia the Petroleum Industry Training Service and the WCB recently announced the launch of the Certificate of Recognition program. Achieving COR status will result in an employer being eligible to receive a 5 percent rebate on their WCB assessment rate.
In responding to the petroleum industry's concerns, we have recently re-opened the Fort St. John office for walk-in queries and added an Industry Specialist position and Occupational Safety Officer to work exclusively with workers and employers.
Online assistance is available through http://www2.worksafebc.com/Portals/Petroleum/Home.asp. Some of the topics on the site include seismic exploration, well services and pipeline or road construction; the site also provides a direct link to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and Guidelines where information can be downloaded or printed.
Serving nearly two million workers and more than 170,000 employers, the
Workers' Compensation Board of B.C. is a provincial statutory agency governed
by a Board of Directors. The WCB is committed to a safe and healthy workplace,
to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation
benefits to workers injured as a result of their employment, and to being
responsible, accountable and financially sustainable.
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For more information please contact: |
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Gladys Johnsen |
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