October 22, 2008 – Halifax, NS – Individuals, organizations and employers who strive to ensure a safe and healthy workplace will see their determination and hard work recognized through a new awards program in Nova Scotia.

The Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) and Nova Scotia Labour and Workforce Development are the drivers behind the first annual Mainstay Awards, celebrating excellence in injury prevention and return-to-work programs. Fifteen awards will be distributed in six categories. The call for nominations is open until January 16, 2009, and winners will be announced during a luncheon on May 5, 2009.

The Mainstay Awards will provide a public pedestal for individuals and organizations that make safety practices including injury prevention and return-to-work programs a part of everything they do. Safe workplace culture prevents serious and fatal injuries and eliminates the financial toll that can follow.

"These awards mean more than just recognizing good behaviour. The greatest reward for a Mainstay winner is knowing that their co-workers go home safe at the end of the day," said Nancy MacCready-Williams, CEO of the Workers’ Compensation Board. "These awards will recognize the tireless work of those who champion safe and healthy workplaces, often standing up for it against a swell of competing business priorities."

"The pursuit of safe, healthy workplaces has come a long way, and these awards recognize that effecting a safety culture change takes effort," said Mark Parent, Minister of Labour and Workforce Development. "We want to recognize the employers who believe Nova Scotians should be able to leave for work in the morning knowing they are prepared for the risks they'll encounter there."

The award categories reflect the responsibility of both employee and employer in creating a safe work environment including categories such as the Individual Safety Champion Award and the Employer Safety Champion Award.

"We know that safe workplaces don’t just 'happen'," said MacCready-Williams. "Quite often, these efforts go unacknowledged. These awards are a step in the right direction, ensuring that those who win will be positioned as top employers in Nova Scotia."

More information along with awards criteria and applications for nominations can be downloaded at www.mainstayawards.ca.

Related: Mainstay Awards Backgrounder

About the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia: The Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia (WCB) is committed to keeping Nova Scotians safe and secure from workplace injury. The WCB provides workplace injury insurance for more than 18,000 employers, representing about 300,000 workers across the province. The WCB sets the standard for workplace injury insurance by informing and inspiring Nova Scotians in the prevention of workplace injury. If an injury occurs, the WCB supports those whose lives it touches by championing a timely return to safe and healthy work.

About Nova Scotia Labour and Workforce Development: Nova Scotia Labour and Workforce Development: focuses on labour issues, employment rights and responsibilities, adult learning, apprenticeship training and trade qualification, skill development, public and workplace safety, industry regulation, licensing and pensions. Nova Scotia Labour and Workforce Development also supports employers in creating safe work environments and in enforcing safety regulations in the workplace and on much of the equipment, products and services that Nova Scotians use on a daily basis.

For more information, please contact:

Julie Trites
Communications Advisor
Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia
902.491.8103
julie.trites@wcb.gov.ns.ca