Workplace injuries on the rise, as Manitoba unions raise concerns over safety – Winnipeg | 24CA News
Workplace accidents throughout Winnipeg are going up, changing into a development that displays the sum of money used to compensate affected employees.
Last yr, the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba marked a five-year excessive within the reported variety of extreme accidents — 3,321 accidents, which is almost a thousand extra in contrast with information from 2018. At the identical time, over $16 million was paid out in board prices final yr. Compared with 2021, that’s a rise of $2.6 million.
As for the general complete damage claims, there have been 25,632 claims final yr and 24,003 in 2021.
Such improve can also be prevalent with the City of Winnipeg. Chief administration officer Michael Jack stated there might be numerous contributing elements that come into play, corresponding to excessive COVID-related sicknesses.
“Increases in psychological injuries and stress-related injuries are on the rise,” Jack stated. “We did have an unfortunate increase in workplace violence and lost time related to that.”
The City of Winnipeg, as an employer, is SAFE Work licensed. This designation, supplied by the WCB division, provides monetary rewards to employers that take proactive steps to forestall office accidents.
Concerns over security and safety points have additionally been raised by unions like CUPE Local 500. These are points that the union stated compound to a rise in claims.
“The province has really got to step up and take some responsibility here and play a role in trying to address this,” stated union president Gord Delbridge. “People are expected to do more and more with less.”
CUPE Local 500 represents over 5,000 public employees.
Derek Hanley, government vp of ATU 1505, stated security considerations are an analogous concern for transit employees. Since the beginning of the yr, he stated there have been 52 accidents involving transit operators.
“More than just physical injuries, our members are dealing with the psycho-social aspect of the constant assaults that they’re facing,” Hanley stated. “The constant degradation from the public just coming on the buses, not acknowledging the operators, not paying fares … — it all starts to play with an operator’s psyche.”
Many of the operators, Hanley stated, are left to take care of psychological well being considerations like PTSD because of this. The union is asking for full boundaries on buses to guard drivers, in addition to plans to rent safety officers.
“A lot of it has to do with the social downturn in society right now,” Hanley stated.
“We have so many people out there suffering from addiction issues and a lot of times they’re just getting on busses and by no fault of their own … they’re either going after passengers or they’re going after our operators. There need to be things put in place that can limit these interactions from happening.”
— with information from Global’s Teagan Rasche
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
