WCB Alberta raises the bar

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Effective January 1, 2005, the WCB has increased the maximum insurable earnings from $61,200 to $62,600 per worker. This means that benefits for workers earning more than the current maximum will now more closely match their pre-accident earnings. With this increase, 95% of injured workers covered by the WCB will receive benefits based on their full salaries, in the event of a work-related injury or illness.
Insurable earnings include:
*  wages
*  salaries
*  piece work
*  commissions
*  training-on-the-job earnings
*  labour portions of contract earnings if segregated on invoices (otherwise 100% of contract amount)
*  bonuses
*  holiday pay
*  recorded tips and gratuities
*  pay-in-lieu of notice
*  value of service
*  employees' share of fringe benefits
*  taxable benefits.
It also includes any other remuneration or allowance that the WCB determines is subject to coverage, such as power saw allowances and vehicle allowances. Note: If an employee works for two or more employers in one year, the employee's earnings cannot be pro-rated between the employers. For premium purposes, each employer is treated separately.
Non-insurable earnings
 When reporting your workers' insurable earnings, do not include your earnings as a director, proprietor or partner, or the earnings of the following:
* members of your association
* contractors or subcontractors who:
- have their own WCB account,
- are operating as a corporation, or
- are performing the work as:
    - an employer in that industry
    - a worker of another employer
    - a director of a corporation
    - a proprietor with personal coverage
    - a partner in a partnership with personal coverage.

Bantrel Leads the EPC Industry in Quality and Safety
 CALGARY- Bantrel is now the first Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Company in North America to be registered to TS 29001:2003 by the Quality Management Institute.
    TS 29001:2003 was recently created through collaboration between the ISO and the petrochemical industry. This new standard mirrors ISO 9000:2000 and includes additional requirements relating to the documentation, change management, change approval and records retention needs of the industry.
 
By successfully meeting the certification requirements of this new industry specific ISO quality standard, Bantrel continues a tradition of quality performance. In 1993, Bantrel became the first EPC firm in Canada to achieve certification under the internationally recognized ISO 9001 standard.
 
Setting a Benchmark in Safety
   Bantrel also recognized the exceptional achievement of reaching 20 million work hours without a lost time injury. This accomplishment reflects a commitment to safety that involves the entire company.
    (A Lost Time Injury is a workplace incident that results in an employee being absent from work for at least one day beyond the day of injury.)
  
"I am extremely proud of the men and women of Bantrel who have chosen to embrace safety as a personal value," said Paul Lovell, Bantrel's Chairman and CEO. "We have worked hard to develop our safety culture and it has only been through the individual involvement and commitment of all employees that we have achieved this extraordinary level of performance."
  
Bantrel, with offices in Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto is one of Canada's leading Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies. Bantrel provides quality project management and execution services to the petroleum, petrochemical, industrial and cogeneration industries across Canada.