Programs offered

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Employers and workers across Saskatchewan wanting to learn more about ways to prevent on the job injuries can take advantage of a series of seminars and workshops offered by the Saskatchewan Workers Compensation Board (WCB).

A number of three to four hour long seminars are available and are offered in the workplace. The goal of the sessions is to assist workplaces to develop policies and procedures for safety, and to help identify hazards on the job.

Among the workplace injury prevention seminars offered by the WCB are Oh, my aching back!, which deals with back pain and injury prevention, Managing Stress, which looks at how stress affects people and examines various stress management techniques, and I wasn't sleeping-just resting my eyes!, which looks at the early warning signs of fatigue, and how to prevent it from causing problems with workplace safety and health.

Other seminars offered are Drug and alcohol-free workplace, designed for workplaces that plan to develop a strategy for dealing with substance use and abuse, It only hurts when I move! and My workstation is trying to kill me, both seminars on workplace ergonomics, Safety-is common sense enough?, which looks at at-risk behavior and how to address it in the workplace, and My hands are sleeping on the job, which looks at how to identify carpal-tunnel syndrome and how to prevent it.

Seminars are also offered that deal with chronic pain management, and helping injured workers return to work by accommodating their disabilities.

A number of workshops, which are longer and more detailed sessions, are also offered by WCB to help employers develop programs for their workplaces. Workshops on developing return to work programs and safety programs are currently available, and workshops on developing drug-free workplace and fatigue management workplace programs will be added to the list in the near future.

Employers can also arrange for modules on carpal-tunnel syndrome, ergonomics and lifting to be developed for their particular workplace. Whereas the seminars are provided to employers free of charge, the cost of module development and delivery is the responsibility of the employer, although the WCB will cost share with the employer for these modules, up to a maximum of $1,000 per employer per year.

For more information about the prevention seminars, workshops and modules offered by the Worker's Compensation Board in Saskatchewan visit the WCB Web site at http://www.wcb.sask.com.