Nova Scotia’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) has approved changes to policies it uses to set employers’ assessment rates.

The changes will apply with 2013 assessment rates. The board has revised its Experience Rating — Maximum Merit or Demerit Surcharge policy.

St. Catharines, Ont. — The Corporation of the Town of Pelham was fined $60,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a young worker was injured.

On August 25, 2011, summer students working for the Town were repairing the lids of catch basins, which are the parts of storm drains used to collect debris. One worker lifted the lid of a catch basin with a pickaxe so another worker could apply tape to the basin. While the second worker's hand was in the basin, the lid slipped from the pickaxe and crushed that worker's hand.

NIPAWIN, Sask. — A Saskatchewan judge has convicted a backhoe operator of workplace violations in an explosion at a butcher shop that killed two people.

Lorry Riemer is to be sentenced at a later date on two counts under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Blatantly defying orders by the compensation board can put employers at risk of grave penalties, as one B.C. contractor learned from a recent ruling by the B.C. Supreme Court.

One of the most rewarding parts of my professional practice is helping safety practitioners become Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (CRSP). As one of the providers of courses, study materials and practice questions, I meet a great number of safety people struggling to take in and retain huge volumes of information…

When I interviewed George Gritziotis, Ontario’s chief prevention officer, a few months ago, he spoke about the need to focus prevention efforts on vulnerable workers — those who, due to age, newness of work, literacy level, cultural barriers, mental and physical state or precariousness of employment, are at higher risk…