WCB Holds 3rd Annual Workplace Health and Safety Conference “Prevention is the Cure” - April 2002

The Workers Compensation Board (WCB) is holding its 3rd Annual Conference on Workplace Health and Safety with the theme this year being - Prevention is the Cure. Two-hundred and fifty delegates have signed up for the conference to learn more about health and safety in the workplace. Many of the delegates are worker and employer safety committee members from Island workplaces.

Carol Anne Duffy, CEO of Workers Compensation Board, said “providing education and awareness about health and safety is paramount in our efforts to reduce workplace accidents and injuries in Prince Edward Island.” She pointed out that the most common workplace injuries are soft tissue injuries such as sprains and strains. “Soft tissue injuries can occur in just about any work environment and account for roughly half of all workplace injuries.” One of the workshops, called Keeping Soft Tissue Injuries Out of Your Workplace, provided delegates information about the nature of soft tissue injuries, including how they are caused and what people can do to avoid them.

Jim Lee, Chair of Workers Compensation Board, explained that this year’s theme, Prevention is the Cure, “promotes understanding about the benefits of investing in occupational health and safety, and raises awareness of the role and contribution of workers, employers and safety professionals.” A workshop called Developing a Health and Safety Program, showed delegates how to set up a health and safety program in the workplace. Health and safety programs will be required in all Prince Edward Island workplaces with 20 or more employees by December 2002, as outlined in the December 2000 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

“The Workers Compensation Board is committed to improving health and safety for all Islanders,” said Lee, “and the Workplace Health and Safety Conference brings us one step closer toward creating a workplace culture where safety is a way of life.”

For more information contact Mark Barrett:

Tel: (902) 894-0362
Email: mabarrett@wcb.pe.ca