What is Partnership in Injury Reduction (PIR) and How to Get Involved.
It’s Not Too Late!
Register in WCB Alberta’s Partnerships in Injury Reduction (PIR) by December 31, 2017 and still be eligible for PIR rebated for 2017 and 2018
The annual Experience Rating statements will soon be released, so now is a good time for employers to look at ways to maintain or improve their WCB premium rate. In Alberta, your claims experience from the past three years is used to establish your premium rate for the coming year – in other words, your WCB claims from 2014, 2015 and 2016 will be used to determine your premium rate for 2018.
Although you can not change past performance, what you do from this point forward can have a significant impact on your WCB premium rates in the future.
One way that Alberta employers can realize WCB premium reductions is through the Partnership in Injury Reduction (PIR) program. PIR is a voluntary program designed to encourage injury prevention and promote the development of effective workplace health, safety and return-to-work plans. The foundation of this initiative is based on the concept that employers and workers coming together to build effective health and safety programs will result in fewer work-related claims and lower claims costs. Regardless of any other incentives, fewer claims and lower claims costs will help reduce WCB premiums.
If you are already registered in the PIR program, now is a good time to review the performance measures used to calculate your WCB premium, ensure that your COR is current and that your health and safety program is audit ready.
If you have not registered to join PIR, it is worth considering. Signing up for PIR is free and can result in up to a 20% rebate, based on your Industry Rated Premium, once you have achieved a Certificate of Recognition (COR).
By joining PIR, you can reduce your WCB Premium in one of three ways:
- Achieve or maintain a Certificate of Recognition (COR)
- Improve your performance, or
- Maintain Industry Leadership.
Even though you can earn industry rate discounts by improving your own claims cost record year over year or by performing significantly better than your industry does, the key component of PIR is obtaining a COR, which is issued by Alberta Labour. The basis of a COR is the development and implementation of a workplace health and safety system, which is a proven means of lowering work related claims costs.
Employers who are interested in obtaining their COR often discover that they already have many of the required elements in place and that it is not that difficult to meet the established standards. In recognition that it takes time to build effective health and safety management systems, the PIR program built in a one year grace period that allows employers to achieve their COR and still earn a discount.
If an employer is enrolled in PIR and has not met the COR standard by the end of that year, their performance discount will be carried forward for one year. If the COR standard is met in that next year, the performance discount will be then be issued to the employer, if not it will be forfeited.
Additionally, any employer obtaining their COR for the first time is eligible for a one time only 10% industry rate discount. So now is the time to consider becoming a PIR member and ensuring that you are doing all you can keep your WCB premiums as low as possible.
This blog pertains to Alberta, however, there is also a COR program in Saskatchewan that is beneficial to employers.
For further information regarding the PIR program or obtaining a COR, you can reach us via email at [email protected], [email protected], contact us directly, during business hours, using our chat feature, or by phone, at 1-844-377-9545 and you can always connect with us on Facebook ,Twitter , or LinkedIn.
