April 24, 2008

Letter to the Editor

WSIB doesn’t reward unsafe employers

Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) experience rating program

Dear Editor,

Upon reading recent media reports, I can see why most would conclude that the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) experience rating program is so outrageously flawed it needs to be shut down.

But, is this the full story?

Can it be that the WSIB administration is so inept as to design such a ridiculous program and let it stand for over 20 years? Lost in this public relations forest fire is the established fact that experience rating works, and contrary to the themes getting public airing, it does not reward unsafe employers.

A 2005 independent study by the Institute for Work and Health concluded: “Our research indicates that (experience rating) functions well, encourages prevention and contributes to positive workplace health and safety practices.”

In fact, for 2006, one in four Ontario employers under this program were surcharged $169 million, with the largest firms seeing average surcharges of $319,000 outpacing the average rebate by a margin of 2.4 to 1 (the average rebate for large firms was $135,370).

Oh, and just in case it is of any relevance, it was the Peterson Liberals who supported experience rating in 1986 and the Bob Rae NDP who expanded it in 1992.

L.A. Liversidge, LL.B.

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