The Yukon Workers Compensation Health and Safety Board (WCB) shouldn't be threatening local businesses with audits if they don't sign up for programs like Choices.

That's the view of Rick Karp, the president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce.

Karp was responding to comments made Thursday by Valerie Royle, the WCB's president and administrator, that employers who don't sign up for Choices, aimed at reducing work-place injuries, by July will be targeted for inspections.

'We're not dealing with children,' Karp said in an interview this morning.

The comments came at a press conference where Royle released information about the 1,960 injuries reported to the WCB in 2007.

By participating in the program, she said, employers show they are meeting the legislative requirements of the Health and Safety Act. That means the WCB will touch base with businesses not signed up because it won't know whether the businesses are meeting the requirements.

'We won't be able to inspect them all; obviously, we don't have the resources to do that, but we will do targeted inspections,' she said.

'And if an employer has met the requirements of Choices and they sent us in documentation, then we know they're doing something to meet the legislative requirements. And if an employer hasn't, then they haven't demonstrated that to us.'

The program, which businesses can now apply for, gives money back to employers for their health and safety measures. It establishes health and safety policies and return-to-work policies for all Yukon work-places.

At a minimum, employers would get $150 in reinvestment rewards back to facilitate health and safety and return-to-work initiatives. They could range from anti-fatigue mats to be placed behind cash registers for clerks to first-aid training for staff.

The maximum reward would be 18 per cent of the assessment paid.

The minimum of $150 could mean some employers getting their full assessment back, Royle said.

'My hope is that businesses focus on practical ways to affect the assessment rates,' Royle said.

Increases to the 2008 assessment rates for most business groups were announced late last year.

But Karp believes it's everyone's responsibility to reduce workplace injuries. The WCB has to show it's spending the money provided by businesses effectively, he added.

It should be looking at whether the money it's putting into things like advertising is making a difference, he suggested.

With 1,960 injuries reported for 2007, that means 12.9 per cent of the 15,200-person labour force has been injured on the job in the territory, Royle said.

In 2006, there were 1,992 injuries reported.

'Thirteen per cent is a horrific injury rate for a territory this size, for anywhere, as a matter of fact,' she said.

Based on past years, about 65 per cent of those injuries will result in a claim and 40 per cent of those will have seen the worker lose time from the job.

'Nothing has changed. We haven't seen a dramatic improvement in any area.'

Based on that, 2008 looks the same, she said.

Karp argues that basing figures, like how many injuries will result in a claim, on previous years only raises more questions, with no answers. There are no figures on how many injuries will actually result in a claim, he said. He wondered how many were cases such as a worker slipping, compared to an employee losing a limb, for example.

Why, Karp asked, are numbers being released when officials don't have the answers?

The figures show the highest number of injuries reported were caused by contact with objects or equipment, at 751, compared to 704 from 2006.

As an example, Royle pointed to a worker who fell down a hill and was hit in the shoulder by a piece of equipment that rolled after him.

The claim ended up costing close to $19,000, with medical costs at $1,936, travel from a community to Whitehorse almost $156 and time-loss payments at $16,605.

'There's a lot of costs associated with these,' Royle said, stressing that all those costs resulted from a fall down a slope.

Another 655 reported injuries were due to bodily reaction and exertion, with 275 injuries from falls; 118 from exposure to harmful substances or environments; 61 transportation accidents; 49 assaults, violent acts and harassment; 15 other events/exposures; and five injuries from fires and explosions.

There are also 31 injuries that haven't been divided into the categories yet.

As the largest employer in the territory, the Yukon government was the entity reporting the most injuries, at 470 compared to 504 last year, going down seven per cent.

That's followed by retail, which went up 0.3 per cent from 146 injuries reported in 2006 to 149 in 2007.

While the building and construction industry had the third-highest number of injuries at 146, Royle was quick to note that's down 20 per cent from 2006, when 181 injuries were reported.

'A lot of those companies are working on COR certification and we're starting to see some positive movement and that's great for them,' Royle said.

The largest age group to be injured was those 43 to 54 years old, reporting 240 injuries compared to 219 in 2006.

Men were also reporting being injured on the job at more than twice the rate of women. While men made up 2,685 injuries, women made up 1,207. Information on the other 60 injuries isn't available.

It will likely be the middle of the month before the WCB has a total on the amount of claims paid out in 2007, Royle said.

As officials work on totalling the year-end figure, they are also continuing to meet with each industry group to discuss their assessments and look at how they can lower injuries in the work-place.

While Karp was critical of the WCB rates and such, he did note he's pleased the WCB is willing to meet and discuss rates with industry as well as the chamber.

The chamber has a closed meeting set for next Thursday to discuss business concerns around assessment rates as well, he said.