Yukon WCB premiums drop for 5th year in a row

Yukons workers compensation premiums will go down again next year for the fifth year in a row, but officials caution those rates aren't likely to go any lower.

Vicki Hancock, alternate chair of the Yukon Workers Compensation, Health and Safety Board, says savvy investments and a growing culture of safety are behind the decrease.

"If you just look around you can see people all over wearing their personal protective equipment," she said.

Compensation coverage will cost Yukoners an average of about seven per cent less next year.

But Hancock said after five years of declines, people should not expect the trend to continue.

"Employers may now be looking at the lowest average assessment rate they're going to see," she said.

Administration costs at the board actually went up but compensation board investments earned higher interest rates.

One man was killed and more than 1,000 workers were hurt on the job last year in Yukon. That's down from a high of four deaths and more than 1,800 hundred injuries in recent years.