September 24, 2008

Construction Safety Association of British Columbia

Certificate of Recognition program ready to help small firms earn WorkSafe BC rebates

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

A program designed to help construction-industry employers save money is being relaunched and repackaged for smaller businesses.

The Certificate of Recognition (COR) is a voluntary incentive program for employers and workers to implement health, safety and return-to-work programs.

It is run by the Construction Safety Association of B.C. (CSABC) and sponsored by the province’s occupational health and safety authority.

“Once they complete this program, they get a 10 per cent rebate from WorkSafeBC and an additional five per cent for the return-to-work program,” said Cathy Lange, executive director of the CSABC.

“In previous years, the rebate was only five per cent, so this could triple the amount received. Fifteen per cent is a lot bigger incentive.”

The program rewards employers who go beyond the legal requirements of the Workers Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety regulations.

“The program, when it first started, was aimed at larger firms,” she said.

“We are trying to improve the culture of safety in construction. A critical part of changing the culture is training for supervisors, owners, senior mangers and workers. We try to get people at all levels to understand safety.”

The modified program recognizes that small businesses, with less than 20 employees, have their own unique challenges with regards to health and safety.

“What we are finding is the regular six day training program was too much for the small employers, who could not afford to take the time off work,” Lange said.

The program has been re-designed to help small employers obtain their COR in two days. The first day is used to go through an online course to build an Occupational Health and Safety program. This can be done over a longer period of time if necessary.

The second day is spent in class learning how to audit the program through observation and documentation on the worksite.

“The audit goes a little beyond the regulations. If you fail the audit, you are not following the regulations,” Lange said.

To complete the program, participants must successfully pass an internal Small Business audit. To maintain COR certification, a company must perform annual internal audits.

Print | Email | Comment