May 3-9 is Safety and Health Week (formerly NAOSH Week) - a continent-wide initiative to focus employers, employees, partners and the public on the importance of preventing injury and illness in the workplace, at home, and in the community.
This week, workplaces across Nova Scotia will mark Safety and Health Week without the usual in-person gatherings that help connect and remind employers and workers to make safety a top priority, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic has meant a shift in the way many of us work, and it will continue to transform how we focus on workplace safety over the months ahead.
That’s why this year, our focus for Safety and Health Week is on helping workplaces navigate working safely during the pandemic.
New ways to work safely
Together with our safety partners throughout the province, WCB Nova Scotia has developed a dedicated resource hub, including a social marketing campaign developed in partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education, to help employers and workers do their jobs safely, while following public health directives to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
If you’re looking for ideas and activities for Safety and Health Week in your workplace, a good place to start is by visiting worksafeforlife.ca/COVID19. From there you can:
• Order or download, print, and share new COVID-19 prevention posters
• Watch and share new ways of working safely COVID-19 prevention videos
• Listen to COVID-19 safety tips
• Download digital messaging for TV screens or desktop screens
• Show your commitment to safety and health on social media
• Get COVID-19 safety tips for your industry
• Check out all of our other great workplace prevention and return-to-work resources
For more information about Safety and Health Week activities across Canada, visit naosh.ca.
No matter how we participate, it is important to remember that everyone in a workplace shares responsibility for safety, based on their own level of authority and ability.
Together, we can work through this safely.
2019 Workplace Injury Statistics At-A-Glance
• There were 5,663 time-loss injuries in 2019, which represents a slight decline from 5,819 in 2018.
• The injury rate also improved to 1.67 time-loss injuries per 100 covered workers – down from 1.72 in 2018, and continuing a long-term downward trend.
There were 25,183 registered claims for workplace injuries in 2019, which represents a slight increase from 24,584 in 2018.
*An earlier version of this article stated the injury rate for 2019 was 1.71 per 100 workers. This number has since been adjusted