230 - 10th Ave. E., Regina, SK S4N 6G6
p: 306-569-3000 f: 306-565-2400
e: info@wappel.ca
• General Contractor
• Concrete Supply
• Earthmoving
• Sewer & Water
• Curb & Sidewalk
• Equipment Rentals
And to top this off, that is at today’s rates. In 2018, as we discussed
in the previous edition, those using the system with the surcharge
will be penalized even more.
But, your business is doing well and you can just pass those in-creased
premiums onto your customers, so you are okay, right?
There are a couple of ways of looking at this. Increasing your price
will cover your costs so you can go about doing business as usu-al.
However, with more competition for products and services, your
price might be higher than other companies, putting you in a poor
place with your increased pricing. An alternate avenue you can con-sider
is decreasing your profit margin to absorb the additional costs,
but not many employers will like that idea. What else can you do?
Another problem is to think about any contracts you might consid-er
bidding on. Are they managed by some of the large contract manage-ment
companies? If so, you may not even be in a position to be allowed to
bid because of your safety record with the WCB. We have seen companies
lose contracts that they have already won – and have arrived on site – and
been kicked off due to a single lost time injury.
Is it all doom and gloom? Not completely. You have to start immediate-ly
to review your WCB costs to see first of all if you are in the terrible land
of surcharge. If you are, or if you have any WCB costs coming through
on your reports every month, understand what the costs are. Second,
you need to review all of these claims to ensure they have been managed
properly and have been fairly claimed to your experience rating. All claim
files should be managed to ensure they are consistent with your docu-mented
return to work program; if not, why not? Appealing some issues,
if they exist, can potentially reduce your surcharge amounts and help re-duce
your overall premium costs.
Thirdly, do not have any more preventable injuries by initiating a qual-ity
safety program and ensure all of your staff are abiding by the safety
procedures.
It is your responsibility as a business owner/manager to ensure your
return to work program and safety programs are up to date and operat-ing
as they are intended. You are also responsible for managing your inju-ry
cases to ensure costs are kept to a minimum and your injured workers
are looked after.
If you are not sure how, are unable to, or wish not to manage these
claims, there are companies that can help you manage them and also re-view
old claims in hopes of reducing your experience rating and get you
a lower premium.
You may not even
be in a position
to be allowed to
bid on certain
contracts because
of your safety record
with the WCB.
INJURY SOLUTIONS
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saskheavy.ca | Quarter 3 2017 | Think BIG 55