Sask Rivers complete WorkSafe Saskatchewan program

The Sask Rivers Education Centre/ Daily Herald File Photo

The Saskatchewan Rivers School Division was recently notified that they have completed the WorkSafe Saskatchewan Priority Employer Program.

This means that the division has made significant improvements in safety. Education director Robert Bratvold reported the completion to trustees at their Nov. 8 meeting. The school division has been in the program since 2013 and made enough improvement to end participation.

“It is more than just ‘here’s the statistics on reduced claims and reduced injury rates,’ which is significantly good,” Bratvold said. “It’s more than that. It’s around a culture of safety developing and people being aware.”

Bratvold said the division has done a significant amount of work internally. To receive the recognition from WorkSafe Saskatchewan was nice, but Bratvold said their work isn’t done.

“There is lots more work to do, but that culture of safety is really growing and becoming a more common and visible part of our operations,” he explained.

Safety improvements were developed and implemented by school division staff, according to a Sask. Rivers press release.

The division began participation in the program in 2013 as part of WorkSafe Saskatchewan’s health and safety initiative.

The Saskatchewan Workers Compensation Board notified the division about their success in a letter dated Oct. 26. The letter said the division had completed the final stage of the Priority Employer Program.

that was made Sask Rivers has completed the final stage of the Priority Employer Program.

Total claims have dropped from 34 in 2013 to 22 in 2020. The total injury rate reduced from 6.85 per cent in 2013 to 4.89 per cent in 2020 and the time loss injury rate has reduced from 4.06 per cent in 2013 to 1.95 percent in 2020, which is a reduction of 51.97 per cent.

The letter stated that WorkSafe Saskatchewan will still be a resource for the division even though involvement in the program has been completed.

As well at the meeting on Monday the Saskatchewan Rivers Students For Change Urban trustee Tia-Lee McCallum of Prince Albert Collegiate Institute (PACI) and rural trustee Daniel Vidal of WP Sandin School in Shellbrook attended their second meeting as trustees. The report was brief because of a special reason.

“The student group had met that afternoon and so they didn’t really have much time to condense that and distill it and share it with the board for the evening meeting,” Bratvold said. “That was a little bit unfortunate but I still think it is good to have their voice and their presence.”

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

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