Today, New Brunswick’s Auditor General released the results of an audit focused on the governance of WorkSafeNB.
We welcome this report. In fact, we have worked closely and co-operatively with the audit team over the past year to ensure this final report will help us become an even better organization.
Having the benefit of external experts carefully analyzing your business with a fresh set of eyes is always a learning experience for any organization and this audit was no exception. We have accepted all of the audit recommendations and, as a result, these improvements will enhance our overall governance model and advance our commitment to maintaining a sustainable workers’ compensation system.
WorkSafeNB is proud to play an important role within New Brunswick’s workforce. We train and educate workers and employers on safe work practices in all industries. We work with employers to help prevent workplace injuries, and to establish strong return to work programs. When injury occurs, we support injured workers to return to work in a safe and timely manner through treatment, rehabilitation and income replacement benefits. We also provide extended benefits in cases where an injured worker is no longer able to work because of their workplace injury or disease, and we support families in the wake of workplace tragedy. Our board and our employees are passionate about this work, but we understand that our success is not only measured by what we do, but also how we do it. We are committed to following established best practices, being transparent in all that we do, and being accountable to New Brunswickers – those who own the system. The Auditor General has demonstrated that we can do better - and we will do better.
We take these recommendations very seriously and we are working in partnership with the Department of Post-secondary Education, Training and Labour to advance several of the recommendations that will require a joint effort. With regards to the recommendations presented to our Board and to management, we are taking prompt action to implement all proposed recommendations and we are committed to a path of accelerated improvement.
To that end, we have already increased transparency by posting online the expense and compensation details for our leaders and members of our board of directors. We have also recently implemented tighter controls on staff travel, and have changes underway related to our board committees and improvements to the Board orientation process.
We are committed to a culture of continuous improvement within WorkSafeNB and we thank the Auditor General for helping us in achieving that goal.
Media contact:
Laragh Dooley, Acting Director, Communications, WorkSafeNB
Telephone: 506 647-8774
Email: communications@ws-ts.nb.ca