WorkplaceNL has achieved a historic low in its lost-time injury rate for 2023, reaching 1.3 per 100 workers. This marks a 13 per cent decrease from the previous year’s rate of 1.5, reflecting significant improvements in workplace safety across Newfoundland and Labrador.
The 2023 Annual Performance Report highlights various strategic initiatives contributing to this achievement.
Among the sectors with the highest injury rates were fish processing (3.0), fish harvesting (2.9), and agriculture (2.5). Conversely, finance, insurance, and real estate (0.1), mining, oil and gas (0.5), and service industries (0.9) reported the lowest injury rates.
WorkplaceNL’s Injury Fund also saw positive growth, being fully-funded at 121 per cent as of December 31, 2023, an increase from 116.2 per cent in 2022. This improvement is attributed to favourable investment results over the past year. John Peddle, Chair of WorkplaceNL’s Board of Directors, expressed satisfaction with these outcomes, emphasizing the need for ongoing efforts to further reduce injuries and support return-to-work programs.
“About 93 per cent of employers report no injuries and we have hit our lowest lost-time injury rate ever, all signs of significant improvement in the safety culture in our province,” Peddle said. “Yet, about 12 people a day are injured. We must continue our efforts to prevent injury and implement appropriate return-to-work programs, leading to safer workplaces with lower claims costs. We know we cannot do this alone, and look forward to working with our partners to protect workers and employers.”
The report detailed several initiatives from 2023, including the review of the Traumatic Psychological Injury and Priority Employer Programs, changes to the PRIME program for small employers, training for healthcare providers, consultations on psychological injury coverage due to workplace violence and harassment, and the launch of the ‘Getting back is part of getting better’ campaign.
Despite the overall positive trends, WorkplaceNL remains cautious about potential pressures on the Injury Fund. Although claims costs slightly decreased to $193 million in 2023 from $195 million in 2022, they are still higher than the $183.1 million recorded five years ago. Factors contributing to increased costs include recent benefit changes and inflation.
The average assessment rate paid by employers rose by 2.4 per cent to $1.73 per $100 of assessable earnings in 2024, up from $1.69 in 2023. This rate includes a temporary $0.21 discount implemented in 2019 to address a surplus in the Injury Fund.
WorkplaceNL accepted 4,302 new claims in 2023, a 10 per cent reduction from 4,760 in 2022. The short-term duration of claims closed within the same year averaged 47 days, up from 42 days in 2022, with variances attributed to COVID-19 claims. The average composite duration of claims was 117 days in 2023, compared to 125 days in the previous year, with adjustments made to align with the national definition from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada.
For the first time, all Canadian workers’ compensation boards, including WorkplaceNL, are required to use the new accounting standard IFRS-17 Insurance Contracts. This standard necessitates the use of short-term market rates to calculate the value of benefits owed to injured workers, potentially causing more year-over-year fluctuations in reported benefit liabilities.
To mitigate these fluctuations in employers’ assessment rates, WorkplaceNL plans to maintain a long-term perspective, using anticipated long-term returns from its investment portfolio to determine the funded position and set assessment rates.