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Current RESFAX
Safety Group Rebate 2004 Results – 1.2 Million The WSIB has finally released the results of the RESCON 2004 Safety Group. For the 2004 year, RESCON has received a rebate of $1, 242, 941 million. This is actually more than 40% less than what the 2004 Safety Group actually earned. In essence, the WSIB has clawed back more than $800,000 that was earned by firms who participated in the 2004 Safety Group. As you may recall, a ceiling of $20 million dollars was imposed by the WSIB in order to ‘properly forecast the future costs of the program.” Although in previous years, the total amount rebated to all the Safety Groups hovered around the $20 million the WSIB failed to take in to account the following two unknown variables when establishing the ceiling: the impact of the new formula; and the explosion of firms joining existing safety groups or setting up new ones. The result is that for the 2004 year, the total rebate earned by all Safety Groups was approximately 28 million, or 40% above the ceiling. We are not alone in our frustration with the effect of the cap. Every Safety Group rebate in the Province was clawed back the 40%. The most unfair aspect of the cap is that since the start up of the program the overall frequency of accidents has been reduced by at least 25 per cent, saving the WSIB between $80-million to $100-million in 2004 alone. There also has been a corresponding decline in the severity of accidents. In the upcoming weeks, RESCON will be conducting a quick poll to see if firms participating in the program would support actively lobbying the WSIB and the Minister of Labour to remove the $20 million ceiling and make further improvements to the program. Please watch for the questionnaire and get it back to us as soon as possible. The good news is that for the 2004 year, RESCON substantially improved its compliance spot check results - scoring %97.14, and thereby leaving very little “on the table.” This is a direct result of firms actively implementing health and safety initiatives at their work places. In closing, I would like to congratulate all the firms for their hard work and dedication to the RESCON Safety Group and look forward to working with each of you for 2006. We will be holding our cheque ceremony presentation on Monday, December 19th at 10:00 a.m. at our offices located at 25 North Rivermede Road, Unit 13. Individual firm cheques will be distributed at that time. Please indicate your intent to attend by sending an email to Laura Iamundo iamundo@rescon.ws |
   
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