Month: March 2019

WorkSafeBC Scholarship Provides Career Opportunities

Photo Back Row L to R: Ken Neumann, Canadian National Director United Steelworkers and Co-Chair PCU-WHS; Dean Winsor, Sr Vice President Human Resources Teck Resources and Co-Chair PCU-WHS; Lee Loftus, Vice Chair Board of Directors WorkSafeBC; Honourable Wayne G. Wouters, OC, PC, Chancellor PCU-WHS
Photo Front Row L to R: Honourable Harry Bains, Minister of Labour; Wolfgang Zimmermann, OBC, President PCU-WHS

Please find attached a News Release regarding a joint WorkSafeBC – Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences (PCU-WHS) initiative announced March 8 which provides interested students with the opportunity to receive an annual $6,000 Scholarship for each of the last two years of the Bachelor of Disability Management program at PCU-WHS.

There is an increasing focus on better Return to Work outcomes for individuals who acquire a mental or physical health impairment while employed, as there is significant evidence that all too often, when continued employment is not maintained, the individual with a disability starts the slide towards poverty, homelessness, addiction or worse.

Improved Disability Management efforts have become a priority for Workers Compensation Boards, employers, unions, and other stakeholders right across the country.

In the process, systematic initiatives by many organizations are creating tremendous and increasing professional opportunities in the field of Disability Management and Return to Work, while also being able to positively influence socio-economic outcomes for many.

This WorkSafeBC initiative is a first, with potentially a number of others to follow, and is a strategic effort to increase the pipeline of potential professionals interested in a rewarding career in the area of major emerging professional opportunities, not only with WorkSafeBC, but employers, insurance companies, unions and private rehabilitation providers across British Columbia, Canada and internationally.

For further details, please visit the website at:
https://www.pcu-whs.ca/programs/bdm/worksafebc-pcu-whs-scholarship-pilot-project/

Or contact the University at:
Jennifer Murray
Student Services & Records Coordinator
PCU-WHS
Tel: 778-421-0821, ext. 209
Email: [email protected]

Joint Initiative – Veterans Affairs Canada and PCU-WHS

Career Opportunities for Veterans / DND Personnel
in Disability Management / Return to Work

Through a special initiative with Veterans Affairs Canada, Veterans and DND personnel have an opportunity to participate in a subsidized training program – at no cost to the participant – to become Disability Management Practitioners. The tuition cost is covered for 25 personnel, Veterans and DND, to participate in this online continuing education program.

The program will commence September 2019 and be completed June 2020. When applying, participants must commit to completing the entire program.

There is currently a shortage of qualified disability management practitioners due to the increasing focus on better return to work outcomes by organizations across all sectors, public and private, related to the aging workforce, increasing disability costs, incidences of mental health impairments, and return to work obligations.

For further details, please click on the following link:
https://www.pcu-whs.ca/programs/continuing-professional-education/dmpc-program/veterans-affairs-initiative/

Change in Role for Prof. Dr. Joachim Breuer, Board Member of PCU-WHS

On June 27, an event was held in Berlin to celebrate the retirement of Prof. Dr. Joachim Breuer as Director General of the DGUV (Germany’s national occupational accident insurer), and to acknowledge his 17 years of service in that role. Although this was a “retirement”, it does not signify the “retirement” of Prof. Dr. Breuer who continues in a special consulting role with the DGUV and who is also now offering his expertise through a Professorship at the University of Luebeck. Prof. Dr. Breuer also continues in his capacity as President of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) of Geneva.
Wolfgang Zimmermann, President of PCU-WHS, delivered the Keynote address at the special event which was attended by approximately 200 individuals from across the globe. In the photo from L to R Back Row: Edmund Cheong, Deputy Director of the SOCSO Rehabilitation Center and Dr. Mohammed Azman, CEO of SOCSO Malaysia. L to R Front Row: Wolfgang Zimmermann, President of PCU-WHS and Prof. Dr. Joachim Breuer, Board Member of PCU-WHS.

MOU Signed with CIESS for Promotion of Disability Management to its Members

In late January, a MOU was signed between the Inter-American Center for Social Security Studies (CIESS) and the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences (PCU-WHS) and the National Institute of Disability Management and Research (NIDMAR).

The CIESS, headquartered in Mexico City has developed programs of activities that address priority aspects of social security for their region which encompasses the Americas and the Caribbean, covering 36 countries and a membership of more than 80 institutions.

The MOU creates the opportunity for the adoption of educational programming and the best practice professional and program standards in Return to Work and Disability Management for the member organizations of the CIESS, and expands the global membership in the International Disability Management Standards Council (IDMSC) to 64 countries.

It is hoped that the further adoption of best practice standards in Disability Management and Return to Work will help change the narrative with regard to detrimental outcomes when an individual with a disability does not have a return to work option and is forced into poverty, homelessness, addiction or potentially worse scenarios.

We congratulate the CIESS on their leadership.
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