A total of 43 Yukon workers have reported being injured on the job 32 higher than last week.

Mark Hill, a spokesperson for the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board (WCB), said in an interview this morning the territory is on course for another record year for workplace injuries.

'We're bang-on course,' Hill said.

The jump from last week to this week could partly be due to people being late in reporting their injuries, he added.

For the whole of January 2006, according to WCB figures, there were 77 reported injuries.

Last year, the WCB said, just shy of 2,000 of the territory's 15,000 workers reported being injured on the job.

The WCB reports a total of five workplace-related fatalities, including three deaths on the job and two deaths related to long-term illness.

Hill said this year people are reporting a number of different types of injuries.

'It's a mix. I can tell you there have been a lot of slip-and-fall injuries,' he said. 'There's also been a lot of soft tissue injuries.

'It's seems reasonably spread out.'

Rick Karp, president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, called the rising number of workplace injuries 'shocking.'

Karp said the chamber has made workplace safety one of its top priorities this year.

'It's shocking that in the last year and a half, the number of workplace injuries has almost doubled; we must get control,' he said.

'The Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce supports the WCB in their safety and prevention initiatives.'

Karp said his organization has teamed up with the Yukon Northern Safety Network to offer a safety and prevention specialist to go into businesses to help them assess their safety needs.

'If any business owner would like to participate free of charge, contact the chamber at 667-7545 or the Yukon Northern Safety Network at 633-6640.'

Karp's comments echo similar concerns voiced last year after the WCB announced subsidies to assessment rates paid by Yukon employers were coming off and rates were going up.

The current rates, calculated on a rate per $100 of payroll, have been established for the period of Jan. 1, 2007 through to Dec. 31, 2007.

Subsidies that are being phased out include:

an average of 16 per cent for the exploration, farming, metal and placer mining and gravel crushing sectors;

a 25 per cent subsidy for landscaping, lumber yard, carpentry and trailer court businesses;

an average of 17 per cent for concrete construction, painting and dry walling companies and welding shops;

a 21 per cent subsidy to churches, libraries, recreation centres, day cares, printing companies and professional offices;

a 15 per cent subsidy to municipalities, bulk oil dealers, restaurants and retail sales; and,

a 16 per cent subsidy for hotels, wilderness tourism companies and other service industries.

Rate hikes vary across the board, including:

ïa jump from $3.51 (subsidized rate) per $100 of payroll for the exploration sector to $4.18;

a jump from $3.51 (subsidized) for placer miners to a new rate of $4.18;

a jump from $3.22 to $4.18 for bus lines and school bus companies;

a jump from $3.62 to $6.31 for air services;

a jump from $3.62 to $6.31 for outfitters;

a jump from $4.15 to $12.24 for oil and gas drilling companies;

a jump from $1.46 to $1.94 for trailer courts;

a jump from $4.79 to $8.89 for building construction companies;

a jump from $0.86 to $1.09 for day cares;

a jump from $1.47 to $2.03 for municipalities;

a jump from $1.47 to $2.03 for restaurants.