The Safety Groups Program was developed by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses. The program rewards firms that incorporate prevention measures into their daily business. The key idea is that a well-integrated workplace health and safety program makes good business sense.

Firms from similar or different businesses or rate groups volunteer to form a group with a collective purpose: to learn from each other's experience in implementing injury and illness prevention programs. The firms then benefit collectively from the program rewards.

Firms participating in safety groups work on improving their health and safety programs and learn from each other's experience in implementing prevention measures. The WSIB rewards the success of the safety group as a whole with rebates on the members’ premiums. Ontario construction firms participating in safety groups received over $10 million in rebates in 2003. The average rebate per firm was $22,773. That's on top of experience -rating returns.

The WSIB recently evaluated the program and found that firms in safety groups have a lower average lost-time injury (LTI) frequency than firms not in safety groups. In 2002, safety group firms had an LTI frequency rate of 1.96, while a comparison group had an LTI rate of 3.25. Firms in safety groups also improved their LTI frequency faster than the control group.

• CSAO's Construction Safety magazine (four per year)
• Construction Health and Safety Manual (M029)
• Health and Safety Program Planning guide (DS030)
• Safety Talks manual (V005), covering 76 safety topics
• Complete set of interactive training CD-ROMs on legislation, site safety, WHMIS, etc.

CSAO provides training and conducts workshops to help members develop their health-and-safety management systems. CSAO also supports safety groups through one-on-one consultation. During safety group meetings, CSAO presents tailored programs and assists members in solving health and safety problems.

We are also an active participant on the advisory or steering committee of each safety group in construction.
If you'd like more information about safety groups, contact Carlos Figueira at (416) 679-4058 or by email at carlosfi@csao.org.

You can learn more about the program by visiting the safety group section of the WSIB website and accessing their resources:

From this section, you can download the Safety Groups Program brochure or the guidelines for employers and sponsors. You'll also find application forms, eligibility requirements, and a list of safety groups that you can join.