FREDERICTON -- The New Brunswick government has launched a year-long review of the province's workers' compensation system.

Training and Labour Minister Danny Soucy says complaints over the last few years about WorkSafe New Brunswick show a need to do the first major review of the legislation governing the agency in 20 years.

He says the goal is to strike a balance between adequate compensation for injured workers and the premiums paid by employers.

The department's deputy minister and the CEO of WorkSafe New Brunswick will be co-chairmen of the study.

Liberal Chris Collins says the agency is trying to cut spending rather than offering services to workers, and he says there should be an independent review.

Soucy defends the review and says it is not intended to find ways to reduce payments.