On average, small firms are expected to have a 55% drop in the total compensation days per claim if they become COR-certified.
This is the third blog in a series on white papers created from research completed in partnership with the the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA).
In the Saskatchewan construction industry, small businesses (less than 12 employees) form more than 90% of the firms and more than 30% of the total workers. In terms of attention to safety, preventive practices and internal regulations, small firms traditionally tend to fall behind larger, more mature firms, having more injuries per capita. What can be done to bridge this gap?
As the title suggests, our studies show that smaller firms have greater benefit from implementing a COR program.
One remarkable observation is that small firms who registered for the COR program experienced, on average, a 37% reduction in their LTIR in a time frame of about 3 years. In contrast, the group of uncertified firms (matched based on their payrolls, line of business, and certification year), experienced almost no reduction, and in some instances slight increase in their LTIR, during the same period. Medium-size firms (between 12 and 28 employees) also experienced about 26% reduction in LTIR but unfortunately, we did not have enough data to make a statistically valid inference about large firms.
Comparison of the effect of COR certification on different size classes. Solid markers represent statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) and error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. TL=Time Loss
Total compensation days per WCB claim can be used as an indicator of the severity of time loss injuries. Our analysis showed that, on average, small firms are expected to have a 55% drop in the total compensation days per claim if they become COR-certified. That is a significant difference!
But what does it mean? Simply put, it means that COR certification can help in reducing the risk of serious injuries, which is far better for business.
Another trend we observed was an acceleration in annual injury reduction when firms become COR-certified. A faster yearly reduction up to 5% and 21% were observed with the medium and small COR-certified firms, respectively, compared to their uncertified peers.
Company business performance shows up in the data too. COR certified firms paid higher average salaries. Meanwhile, a steady downward trend was observed in salaries paid by their uncertified peers. This is an obvious indication that COR certified companies are doing better in business. Combining the expected discount in premiums, expected higher yearly reduction in injury costs per capita, and expected relative business growth, it is predicted that small firms in the construction industry in Saskatchewan are likely to experience about 10% more return on investment (ROI) in safety as a result of COR certification.
The conclusion: having a COR significantly reduces injuries and therefore costs on small companies.
It’s a no-brainer, really!
In the next blog in this series, we will discuss the impact of completing training on injury statistics.
Stay tuned!
Note: If you would like a copy of any of our white papers, please contact us – we are happy to share our results with you.
A growing body of evidence suggests that implementing COR in small Saskatchewan construction firms can reduce occurrence of all injures by up to 40%.
Using COR audit results and WCB claims data, we studied the effectiveness of the COR program in three subsectors.
I highly recommend that any buyer of construction services start by confirming that their contractor is COR certified.