Saint John: Robert M. Scott, Chairperson of the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (WHSCC), responded today to the New Brunswick Federation of Labour’s (NBFL) call for an inquiry into the Commission.
“The WHSCC is a well-run organization that every day strikes a delicate balance between the needs of injured workers, and the needs of the employers of this province,” Scott says. “That balance is reflected in our ability to pay higher compensation benefits to injured workers than those paid in other Atlantic provinces. It’s also shown in our ability to offer employers assessment rates that today are lower than those paid in all other Atlantic provinces, and lower than the Canadian average.”
But the real test of the health of the Commission, Scott explains, lies in the ability to ensure the future viability of the organization. “The WHSCC manages to keep benefits high and rates low, but it manages to do that while improving our funded position, and growing our investments to provide a secure future for the injured workers of this province.”
The Board of Directors of the WHSCC is comprised of both worker and employer representatives, along with a member representing the general public, and several non-voting members of the Commission’s executive.
“Ours is a working board,” explains Scott. “We strive together to make balanced recommendations to the government and to the Commission on issues relating to compensation, assessment, and health and safety. We continually review and make policy changes at the WHSCC which benefit workers – such as improved fee schedules for care allowances, transportation expenses, meal allowances, hearing aids and batteries, and child/dependant care expenses. These were areas in the past year where the Board made changes that resulted in a positive impact on the workers of this province.”