Small businesses: incentive program earns you a WSIB premium rebate

If you’re an owner or senior manager of a small business registered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) for 12 months or less, you can earn your business a 10% premium rebate by successfully completing the WSIB’s two-part Safe Communities Incentive Program (SCIP).

If your firm has been in business for longer than 12 months, you can still earn a 5% rebate by participating in the program’s second part.

This free, easy-to-follow program helps small business owners and senior managers understand their responsibilities and implement an effective health and safety program. The WSIB defines a small business as any firm that pays less than $90,000 in annual WSIB premiums.

How the program works

SCIP’s two-part training incentive process starts by helping owners and senior managers of firms registered with WSIB for 12 months or less acquire an understanding of their legal obligations under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. A firm that completes two sessions of two-hour classroom training and creates a health and safety action plan is eligible for a 5% rebate on their WSIB premiums.

“Most of the time, firms are not aware of all the available resources or where to get them,” says Joanne Gordon, manager of SCIP. “We’ve been focusing on small business for a long time – we know what they need and they quickly see the advantages of partnering with us.”

The second part of SCIP training is geared to more established small businesses. It enhances a company’s health and safety awareness by providing four sessions of four-hour classroom training that helps a company develop and manage an effective health and safety program and policy, and create a return-to-work program for any employee who suffers a workplace injury or illness.

“Between the two parts of the program we do an on-site visit to determine if the company would be a good fit for the second part,” Gordon explains. “The size of the business often dictates whether Part 2 is appropriate. We don’t want them to be scared or overwhelmed by health and safety. It’s all about building a relationship of honesty and trust.”

By the end of the two-part training, participants will have learned how to

• conduct an evaluation of their health and safety program
• develop a health and safety action plan and policy
• outline workplace roles and responsibilities
• manage a health and safety program
• create a return-to-work program
• improve performance
• reduce injury and illness costs and property losses

Ninety-eight percent of employers in Ontario operate businesses with fewer than 100 employees. These small and micro-businesses often have limited internal resources to build an effective internal responsibility system for health and safety. They are also generally more vulnerable than larger businesses to the physical, administrative and financial costs of a workplace injury or illness.

“We already know that if you can educate these firms on how to manage health and safety at an early stage,” says Satinder Chera, vice-president at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Ontario, “they are much better able to create a healthy and safe work environment. So from our standpoint, we think SCIP is a wonderful program.”

The federation is one of a number of organizations that worked with the WSIB to help SCIP better serve small businesses. “Many business owners don’t know what programs and supports are available to help them,” says Chera. “The SCIP Program can help them build an effective health and safety program.”

Please note: firms are not eligible to receive both rebates in the same calendar year, and members of WSIB’s Safety Groups incentive program are not eligible for SCIP rebates.

How we can help

Information on SCIP and schedules for upcoming training sessions of Part 1 and Part 2 are posted on the WSIB website. Alternatively, call 1-800-663-6639 or email prevention@wsib.on.ca for more details. Although SCIP training is not currently available in northern Ontario, planning is currently underway with Workplace Safety North to provide wider access to it. Workplace Safety North is one of the four health and safety associations comprising Health & Safety Ontario.

Various support programs already exist to help Ontario’s small businesses improve health and safety. All four of Health & Safety Ontario’s health and safety associations offer consulting and training services geared to small business.