Occupationnal Health and SafetyFAQ

FAQ

1. How much will I save by making use of RCSST’s services?

Considering the results of our mutuals, it is reasonable to believe that our clients could save significant amounts as early as the second year after they join the mutual. At the end of the fourth year, an efficient mutual will make it possible for you to save nearly 50% of your initial invoice.

2. What is the cost of RCSST’s services?

The cost of our services is tailored to your financial reality, as well as the type and size of your organization, and reflects the quality of the services that we provide. We do not subscribe to the concept of percentage mutuals. It is wrong to assert that a client does not pay any amount when his/her manager does not bill the client anything in a percentage mutual. On the contrary, if a percentage manager does not charge anything, it’s because the client has not generated any savings despite membership in a mutual. And if the client hasn’t generated any savings, this means that the client is losing money because their CSST contribution is too high, plain and simple! Worse still, managers of percentage mutuals generally require management fees as well as access to the CSST’s information regarding your case, even years after you’ve left their mutual. Don’t let yourself get trapped!

3. What can I do to determine whether my CSST contribution is too high?

The CSST’s financing rules are complex, however, the notice of assessment issued by the CSST could provide you with some interesting clues:

if your personalized rate is greater than the unit rate determined by the CSST,
or even if your rate is lower than the unit rate, but in a proportion below 40%,

it is a tell-tale sign that you are most likely paying too much. A more in-depth analysis of your situation is warranted.

4. What is a prevention mutual?

A prevention mutual is an insurance product geared to Quebec SMEs that makes it possible for employers, who want to take part in an approach that favours prevention, re-habilitation and the return to work of employees who suffer from an employment injury, to join together in a group with a view to benefiting from a rate that reflects their efforts.

5. Am I obliged to keep an employee who is in the habit of making claims to the CSST?

According to the Act respecting Occupational Health and Safety, no employer may dismiss, suspend or transfer a worker, practice discrimination or take reprisals against him or impose any other penalty on him on the ground that he was a victim of an employment injury or even that he has exercised a remedy under the Act.

This does not mean, however, that an employer is powerless and must endure everything without reacting. The protection provided by the Act does not mean that a worker can call the shots in a company. The employer maintains his right to manage and could penalize an employee suffering from an employment injury, provided that he use another just and sufficient grounds for meting out the punishment. However, an employer must refrain from using the first excuse that comes to mind to do so. It all depends on the circumstances surrounding the matter and each case must be reviewed based on its own merits.

6. What benefits would my business derive from investing in SST?

Placing SST at the heart of the company’s priorities provides numerous advantages. Among others, an employer who efficiently manages his SST file may see the absenteeism rate decrease, his reputation improve and also realize significant savings on his CSST contribution.

7. Am I required to accept an inspector’s visit?

Yes. According to Article 179 of the Act respecting Occupational Health and Safety, an inspector, in the performance of his duties, may, at any reasonable hour of the day or night, enter a place where activities are carried on in the fields contemplated in this Act and the regulations, and inspect that place. It is particularly prohibited to hinder an inspector who is carrying out his duties. A word of advice: do not wait for an inspector to pay you a visit before taking charge of your SST file!

8. I’ve been fined by the CSST!

An inspector could issue a remedial order requiring a person to comply with the Act or the regulations, and set a deadline for the time in which he must comply. The employer must comply within the required timeframe, failing which, he could be fined.

The CSST could also impose a fine for failing to comply with the Act or the regulations. A quick analysis of the decisions rendered by the courts indicates that the CSST wins a significant proportion of the legal cases that it initiates. Once again, don’t wait until it’s too late.

9. Why do business with a consultant?

The occupational health and safety field is subject to a set of highly-complex rules that call on the expertise of numerous professionals active in specialty areas as diversified as law, medicine, actuarial science, ergonomics and industrial relations, to name only a few. No one person can claim to be an expert in all of those areas. Employers must therefore be able to count on a solid and skilled multidisciplinary team.