COR & Auditing / About PIR & COR

About PIR & COR

AMHSA COR logoPartnerships in Injury Reduction is a joint project of Alberta Labour - Partnerships, the Workers’ Compensation Board - Alberta, and employers, represented by one of Alberta’s 13 certifying partners. AMHSA is the certifying partner for the municipal sector. All of the certifying partners meet regularly as a group with Alberta Labour - Partnerships and WCB – Alberta to discuss issues and concerns common to all the certifying partners and to explore ways to improve the PIR program.

It is recognized that a meaningful and well-implemented health and safety management system will lead to a reduction in workplace losses, injuries, and illness. The program helps municipalities earn financial incentives (refunds) to encourage implementing effective health and safety management systems. All Alberta municipalities are eligible to participate in this voluntary program. 

Certifying Partners such as AMHSA, issue a certificate which recognizes that an employer’s health and safety management system has been evaluated by a certified auditor and meets PIR standards. Municipalities must receive a COR to qualify for a WCB rebate.

The PIR Process

  • Step 1: The employer registers in the PIR program with WCB - Alberta.
  • Step 2: The employer implements a health and safety management system and attends the WCB’s Return to Work Seminar.
  • Step 3: Employer has their system evaluated through a COR or SECOR Certification audit.
  • Step 4: The audit is submitted to AMHSA (by the auditor) for quality assurance (QA) review, and AMHSA notifies Partnerships of the results. Partnerships generates and co-signs a COR or SECOR for the successful organization and sends the certificate to AMHSA to be co-signed.
  • Step 5: Partnerships informs WCB – Alberta of the audit results. The employer who received the COR or SECOR is then eligible for financial incentives from the WCB.

How does the PIR financial incentive work?

Successful municipalities can earn a PIR discount from the Workers’ Compensation Board. To qualify for the discount, municipalities must have a valid COR or SECOR and meet additional Partnerships program requirements. The incentive ranges from 5% to 20% of the industry premium rate, depending on the municipality’s claims cost history. This discount is in addition to any reduction or discount from WCB. 

Individual employers will pay less or more than their industry rate, depending on their injury/illness experience. High claims and claims costs will cause an employer to pay a higher rate while lower claims and claims costs will contribute to a reduction in an employer’s premium rate. The incentives are based on industry rates rather than individual employer rates.

  • An employer will receive a 5% rebate for achieving/maintaining a COR 
  • A first-time COR holder will receive a 10% rebate for achieving a COR, or 
  • An employer will receive up to a 20% rebate for improving its performance from previous years or performing significantly better than other participating organizations in its industry (i.e., maintaining industry leadership). 

Note: The employer is not eligible for a combination of rebates; the WCB chooses the best rebate available for the employer. 

Example: 

  • A town has 83 employees and a payroll of $4,500,000
  • The industry premium rate is $1.20 per $100 of payroll
  • The industry based premium = $54,000
    • 5% rebate = $2,700
    • 20% rebate = $10,800

Certificate of Recognition

The Certificate of Recognition (COR) is awarded to an employer that has demonstrated it has a good health and safety management system in place (Note: Organizations with 10 or fewer employees are eligible to perform a small employer audit and receive a SECOR). The employer demonstrates this by passing an external audit. The COR is valid for 3 years, provided:

  • Internal (COR Maintenance) Audit is performed in each of the next 2 calendar years. Audit must pass quality assurance review. AMHSA also offers an Action Plan maintenance year option. 
  • At least one person on staff has taken the WCB’s Return to Work Seminar (formerly Disability Management). 
  • Employer fulfils its obligation to provide external peer auditors as needed. 

Note: If a serious incident or fatality occurs (traumatic incident), Alberta Labour will conduct a review of the organization’s health and safety management system with the employer and Certifying Partner to determine if the COR is still valid. Alberta Labour has the authority to revoke a COR. If revoked, the municipality will be required to conduct another external audit and pass. 

The COR has an expiry date - the employer must pass another external audit in the expiry year in order to remain eligible for financial incentives. To prevent a lapse in COR status, the external audit must be performed before the expiry date. 

All audits must be shared with the municipality audited and submitted to AMHSA. 

There may be reasons to conduct health and safety management system audits more frequently. For example, a serious injury or an increase in incidents may signal a weakness in the program that needs to be investigated. Significant changes in operations or personnel may prompt a review of the effectiveness of your system. Also if an audit revealed several weaknesses and an action plan was developed to address the weaknesses, another audit may be warranted once the actions are implemented. 

Frequently Asked Questions

See FAQs for more information: (CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW)

For more information on PIR/COR, contact Shannon Thomas (Shannon@amhsa.net).

Additional Information from Alberta Labour - Partnerships: