As a member of Parachute, Safe Communities is requested to do a priorities review every three years.
March 8 saw the gathering of around 50 representatives from emergency services organizations, school representatives, farm safety organizations, healthcare, seniors, and many other caring community organizations from Humboldt and area.
“It was a really good cross section of stakeholders from throughout the region so it was good to see other towns and RMs take part as well,” says Shari Hinz, Executive Director of Safe Communities Humboldt and Area.
This cross section provided input on gaps in services and where funding and resources are going to be focused for the next three years, says Hinz.
The presentation started with words from Shelly McFadden with Saskatchewan Worker’s Compensation Board about trends in frequency in claims, especially in the Humboldt area.
With the Mission Zero focus of Safe Saskatchewan, Worker’s Compensation Board, and Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, McFadden says that this coming together for a common goal of reducing injury is great to see.
“There can only be positive that comes out of that.”
What we are seeing in Humboldt and area is that the total number of incidents are on the downward trend but the cost of injuries are going up.
Breaking those numbers down into industry and type of incident, McFadden says people can then see where the different industries are having the most types of incidents and adjust programing to respond.
“We actually see the 2016 data going up slowly so we want to continue to see the trend going down.”
Across the province that downward trend can be seen in the decrease of premiums paid by businesses.
On average, for every $100 a business pays in payroll, they pay a $1.43 to cover the cost of an injury claim. As businesses pay out less in claims, that premium continues on the downward trend, says McFadden.
“In essence we want to see that number goingdown. If that number is going down, the costs are going down.”
Another sign that injury prevention is taking hold in provincial work places is that 80 per cent of Saskatchewan businesses have already achieved Mission Zero, says McFadden.
Randy Robinson with the Saskatoon Health Region facilitated discussion around events that have happened to improve safety in Humboldt and area, the gaps that exist in services or areas where services need to be expanded in Humboldt.
“The key piece that we need to have is what is the community thinking that we need to be working on.”
Having the discussion about safety is the first step in preventing injury and death in the workplace.
So seeing the diversity and involvement of the crowd in Humboldt was important, says Robinson.
“Anything we can do that’s proactive is a big win for a community or an entity.”
Much of the discussion stemmed around new programming for newcomers regarding language barriers and education, seniors, and pedestrians.
“That’s obviously a concern coming out as our cities and communities continue to grow, more issues definitely surrounding some of those things.”
Based on the information received from the discussion, Hinz will be taking the information and applying it against current programming to see where gaps can be filled either with expanding current programs or bringing in new programming.
“It just shows that we are on the right path for many of the things that we already do in terms of the programming that we offer.”
Hinz says it is just a matter of revisiting that and carrying on from there.
