Safety management systems reduce time-loss claims in Saskatchewan

Our colleagues at the Service and Hospitality Safety Association (SHSA) are making great strides toward reducing service and hospitality industries’ time-loss claim costs. Accommodation properties, in particular, pay more than twice the WCB rate of their counterparts in Canada’s other three western provinces, reflecting an historic trend that Safe Saskatchewan and Worksafe Saskatchewan have described as Saskatchewan’s “injury epidemic”.

The SHSA put a good dent in that trend last year, reducing claims by 159 industry wide – exceeding their goal by 260 per cent and saving an estimated $650,000 in direct costs plus $3.3 million in indirect costs for the employers involved.

The SHSA adopted a renewed strategic focus that includes helping businesses to establish comprehensive safety management systems.

A safety management system uses a systematic approach to identifying hazards and managing risks. It involves goal setting, planning and performance measurement. Most importantly, it puts the emphasis on creating a safety culture.

“We can show businesses how to do this successfully,” says Larry Glow, the SHSA’s senior safety advisor. “All they require is the willingness to improve.”

“There are some parts to it that must come first,” Glow adds. “There needs to be actual commitment – up front.”

Making that commitment public, coming from the CEO or top management, increases the likelihood of follow-through and success. So, the SHSA insists that every business that wants to improve safety start by signing the Saskatchewan Health and Safety Leadership Charter.

“If you would like to participate in the next signing of the Charter, June 9, then that means that you’re publicly saying you want to make a difference,” Glow Says.

The SHSA then works with the business to conduct a safety evaluation, essentially a one-day “mini-audit” to identify priority areas that need to be addressed. When it has completed the evaluation, the SHSA returns with an action plan for improving safety in the workplace.

“It may mean training, it may mean coaching on our part, but it’s all services we provide here out of our offices,” Glow says. “Finally, after they’ve got all that rolling, one year later we’re back in there again with another safety evaluation to show them how they’re doing.”

It might sound like an onerous task, but Glow emphasizes that it’s not at all difficult.

“We’re showing them the values of doing these things – not only reducing injuries, of course, but we’re showing, as well, the values of reduced absenteeism, we’re showing the values of improved workmanship and improved quality and so on. There’s a net benefit.”

The SHSA’s strategy includes identifying the 30 businesses within its 3900-strong membership that needed the most help to overcome their safety issues. Dubbed the “Priority 30”, these businesses accounted for 338 time-loss claims in 2009 at an estimated shared cost of $1.7 million to $3.4 million to the industry.

Glow describes it as a “best practices” group, focusing the majority of the SHSA’s resources on a whole sector, starting with hotels. The initiative provides site-specific training, claims management, incident investigation and hazard analysis. The SHSA helps those members set up the procedures, practices and policies needed to make it all work.

“Instead of working with one or two hotels per year, we’re now working with them all at once,” Glow says.

“The efficiency of bringing a whole industry sector together, as opposed to just working with one or two per year, is really going to make a difference,” he adds. “We’re giving them much more value than ever before.”

The targeted approach also makes it possible to measure success throughout the industry. Employers can see whether injury and incident rates are dropping. As claims decrease, WCB rates will follow, resulting in lower premiums for all employers.

“I predict we’ll see them going even lower than Manitoba’s and Alberta’s rates,” Glow says.

Some employers need a more rigorous standard that’s recognized across industry sectors, such as when they supply services to large construction companies. In that case, businesses can look at the Certificate of Recognition (COR) Program. Primarily developed for construction safety, COR was introduced to Saskatchewan service and hospitality industries by the SHSA in 2010, in conjunction with the Joint Industry Committee and the Saskatchewan Construction Industry Association.

In its strategic plan, the SHSA aims to certify one employer per year. It’s already advancing ahead of that plan, with one member completing certification last year and two in the works for 2011.

Most employers’ needs can be met by implementing a safety management system, Glow says. In some circumstances, however, a business needs COR before it can do business with a major employer, such as a construction company or mine site that requires the certification among all the sub-trades it contracts. Service companies that provide catering or security, for example, might need to certify.

In those cases, the SHSA is able to help its members meet their COR standards.

“We’re qualified and fully auditable,” Glow says.

The best successes come from building a safety culture, regardless of the certifications attained, he adds.

“We’re working on culture. We do that through a safety management system. Most of our employers – large employers – don’t use COR for their successes, and they are major successes. COR is important if you want to have your business recognized by another business. To go work for them, COR is very important. But most businesses don’t need that.”