AMHSA has been participating on a province-wide Certifying Partner subcommittee tasked with making recommendations related to the Partnerships in Injury Reduction (PIR) program and COR auditing for 2021. We recognize the challenges that municipalities have faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and that many of these challenges will remain in 2021.
Please share the following information with Auditors, Senior Management, and applicable staff.
Partnerships has recently announced:
Employers will have 2 options for completing external COR Certification audits in 2021:
1. Documentation-only audit = one-year COR
2. Documentation and interviews audit = three-year COR
This will be effective for all external COR Certification audits conducted from January 1 to December 31, 2021.
If an employer chooses option 2, it is strongly recommended that interviews are set up to be conducted remotely using web-based platforms (e.g., Teams, Skype, WebEx, etc.). Telephone calls will also be permitted for interviews as well as written questionnaires pending pre-approval by AMHSA.
This minimum standard may be exceeded if an employer and auditor agree that the audit can be done safely following safe auditing guidelines. A provincial subcommittee has been tasked with ensuring these guidelines are available to auditors and employers in a timely manner. Exceeding the minimum standard may include remote or on-site observations.
Partnerships has confirmed PIR refund eligibility for the 2021 external COR Certification audit options with the Workers’ Compensation Board-Alberta.
We understand you may have questions and we will do our best to provide answers as soon as possible.
