CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The Governance Summit, a gathering of representatives from provincial and territorial workers’ compensation boards from across Canada, took place from June 23 to 26 in Charlottetown. Organized by the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), the annual conference is intended to allow the boards to discuss best practices and ways to improve workers’ comp systems. The theme for the 2015 Governance Summit was People, Purpose & Passion: The Pathway to Success, according to information from the Workers Compensation Board of P.E.I. (WCB). Among the events at the summit was a presentation by two-time Olympic gold medalist Heather Moyse, as well as sessions and panels on risk management, mental health, occupational disease and lessons from the 2012 sawmill explosions in British Columbia, a WCB press release said. “Meetings such as this help us to better anticipate and respond to the changing needs of employers and workers,” AWCBC president Dave Grundy said in a press statement on June 25. “Our discussions over these past few days have focused on critical issues that cross all of our jurisdictions.” A nonprofit organization representing all of Canada’s workers’ comp systems, AWCBC has been in operation since 1919.
Category Archives: Workers Compensation
Former claimant convicted of workers’ comp fraud
SASKATOON, Sask. – A man who went back to work while still living on workers’ compensation has recently been convicted of defrauding the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), according to a press release from the WCB. At the Saskatoon Queen’s Bench Court, the former claimant pleaded guilty of receiving more than $5,000 in income replacement from the WCB after returning to work. On June 19, he received a six-month conditional sentence and was ordered to pay the WCB back. “The WCB has a responsibility to safeguard the workers’ compensation system,” the release, dated June 22, noted. “It relies on workers, employers and caregivers to accurately report injuries, employment activities, payroll and medical treatment.”
New rail safety legislation receives Royal Assent
FEDERAL – Canada’s new Safe and Accountable Rail Act has received Royal Assent, federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced on June 18. The Act consists of amendments to the Canada Transportation Act (CTA) to make federally regulated railway companies more liable for accidents involving dangerous goods, via higher insurance requirements and a supplemental compensation fund to which railways must contribute $1.65 per tonne of crude oil that they transport, according to a press release from Transport Canada (TC); it also changes the Railway Safety Act (RSA) to broaden TC’s oversight powers and improve information-sharing requirements. “I am so pleased to see these important amendments come into force,” Raitt said in a press statement. “Raising standards for rail safety and accountability is a great example of how the Government of Canada is protecting taxpayers and safeguarding the communities along our country’s rail corridors.” Changes to the RSA went into effect immediately, while changes to the CTA will take effect on June 18, 2016, the TC release stated.
Man. government proposes bill for PTSD coverage
Manitoba may become the first Canadian province to recognize post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a compensable work disease for any profession. On June 8, the provincial government introduced a bill that, if passed, would deem PTSD to be a presumptively occupational condition applicable through the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB).
“This is groundbreaking,” Edna Braun, the province’s Minister of Labour and Immigration, told COHSN. “For the first time, presumptive legislation is tied directly to a diagnosis, and it includes every worker eligible under the Workers Compensation Board.”
The bill proposes amendments to Manitoba’s Workers Compensation Act that would presume work as the cause of PTSD. “It makes it easier, therefore, for the folks to access supports, treatments and compensation,” Braun said.
She added that these amendments would cover all workers, regardless of occupation – as opposed to in Alberta, where presumptive PTSD legislation covers first responders only. “A decision was made that we feel in the best interests of all workers in Manitoba, that we should acknowledge that and cover all workers that experience a traumatic event.” Braun cited victims of robbery and witnesses of violent events as examples of other workers who could develop PTSD.
According to WCB communications director Warren Preece, the Board already covers PTSD, as well as psychological damage that happens on the job. “So this isn’t like new coverage,” he explained.
“What will be new, once the bill passes, is that if you have PTSD and come file a claim, it will be presumed to have happened at work. But it’s what we call a rebuttable presumption,” added Preece. “So we’ll still have to verify that you really do have PTSD, that that’s what your condition is and that it did happen at work.”
Preece speculated that the legislation would increase the WCB’s number of PTSD claims. “We’re not expecting there to be tons, but we don’t know if there are people out there, for fear of stigma or not knowing that these things are covered, if there are claims that are out there that aren’t being proceeded with.”
Braun acknowledged that the WCB had approved PTSD claims in the past. “But we felt there was an important element to having it presumptive, because that does provide for a much speedier action on the disease,” she said.
The government had been considering legislation of this kind for several years, Braun explained. “First responders have spoken to us about the need to do this, to provide timely and important healthcare interventions that are needed with post-traumatic stress disorder,” she said. “Other work groups have spoken to us as well.”
This isn’t the first time Manitoba has considered legislation for presumptive occupational disease. “We’ve updated and amended our Act over the years, to address different cancers that we’ve come to recognize as being part of the risk that firefighters experience,” said Braun. “Other provinces, and certainly other countries, have looked at Manitoba’s legislation and have followed suit.”
The new bill has received support from such organizations as the Manitoba Federation of Labour (MFL), the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, the Manitoba Nurses Union and the United Firefighters of Winnipeg, according to a government press release.
MFL president Kevin Rebeck welcomed the bill in a press statement. “PTSD is a real threat to working people,” said Rebeck. “It comes as no surprise to me that Manitoba is the first jurisdiction to put this level of protection into legislation.”
Preece said that the WCB was leaving it up to the government to decide on the final merits of the bill. “That’s for the legislature to decide,” he said. “There will be public hearings, and then out of the end will be a final bill, and we will implement it.
“Anything that helps injured workers get the benefits that they deserve under the system is, in our mind, a good thing.”
N.T. workers’ comp board appoints new prevention director
YELLOWKNIFE, N.T. – The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut recently appointed Judy Kainz, the organization’s Chief Safety Officer since 2008, as its new Director of Prevention Services. Before joining the WSCC, Kainz worked in oh&s positions for such corporations as Kellogg’s, Parmalat and Qulliq Energy Corporation, a May 4 press release from the Commission noted. “For the last eight years, she has worked with stakeholders to advance the Northern safety culture,” the WSCC added. Kainz’ new position will see her and her team administering and enforcing safety legislation while adapting it to realities of working in Canada’s northern territories. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with Judy as she demonstrates her commitment to occupational health and safety in the north,” the WSCC release said.
Characteristics of work-related fatal and hospitalized injuries not captured in workers’ compensation data
M. Koehoorn, L. Tamburic, F. Xu and C.B. McLeod, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; H. Alamgir, Occupational Health, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas; and P.A. Demers, Ontario Cancer Research Centre, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto
Objectives: (1) To identify work-related fatal and non-fatal hospitalized injuries using multiple data sources, (2) to compare case-ascertainment from external data sources with accepted workers’ compensation claims, and (3) to investigate the characteristics of work-related fatal and hospitalized injuries not captured by workers’ compensation. Work-related fatal injuries were ascertained from vital statistics, coroners and hospital discharge databases using payment and diagnosis codes and injury and work descriptions; and work-related (non-fatal) injuries were ascertained from the hospital discharge database using admission, diagnosis and payment codes. Injuries for British Columbia residents aged 15-64 years from 1991 to 2009 ascertained from the above external data sources were compared to accepted workers’ compensation claims using per cent captured, validity analyses and logistic regression. The majority of work-related fatal injuries identified in the coroners data (83 per cent) and the majority of work-related hospitalized injuries (95 per cent) were captured as an accepted workers’ compensation claim. A work-related coroner report was a positive predictor (88 per cent), and the responsibility of payment field in the hospital discharge record a sensitive indicator (94 per cent) for a workers’ compensation claim. Injuries not captured by workers’ compensation were associated with female gender, type of work (natural resources and other unspecified work) and injury diagnosis (e.g., airway-related, dislocations and undetermined/unknown injury). Some work-related injuries captured by external data sources were not found in workers’ compensation data in British Columbia. This may be the result of capturing injuries or workers that are ineligible for workers’ compensation or the result of injuries that go unreported to the compensation system. Hospital discharge records and coroner reports may provide opportunities to identify workers (or family members) with an unreported work-related injury and to provide them with information for submitting a workers’ compensation claim.
Occ Environ Med, Volume 72, Issue 6, pages 413-420. Correspondence to: Professor M. Koehoorn, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3; email: mieke.koehoorn@ubc.ca.
Injured workers campaign for awareness with intercity bike tour
Two permanently disabled men in Ontario have recently undergone a public campaign about unfair treatment of injured employees by the workers’ compensation system – via an eight-day bicycle marathon from Ottawa to Toronto.
Hamilton-based Peter Page and Ottawa resident Richard Hudon biked more than 600 kilometres from May 24 to June 1, to raise awareness of the plight of Ontario injured workers who cannot get the compensation they need. With the support of the Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups (ONIWG), the pair began their journey at Ottawa’s Day of Mourning Monument, before making stops in Cornwall, Brockville, Belleville, Kingston, Cobourg and Oshawa. Along the way, they collected signatures from supporters in a book called The Big Book of Injured Workers.
The tour finished at Toronto’s Queen’s Park, where Page and Hudon joined the annual Injured Workers’ Day (IWD) rally on June 1.
“Richard and I are activists who want to help other injured workers not have to go through what I went through,” said Page, who spoke to COHSN while on a break en route to Belleville. Page, a former employee of Magna International Inc., claims that he developed a repetitive strain injury while on the job.
Hudon lost a leg in a workplace saw accident at the age of 17. He is now in his early 70s.
Page accused the WSIB of addressing its own costs by denying benefits to injured workers and through changing policies that made it harder for workers to get access to appeal tribunals. “All of these things are negatively affecting injured workers’ benefits,” he said.
In addition, he and Hudon expressed concern that the WSIB was on its way to becoming a more privatized system rather than a government-run institution. “You just have to look across the border, at what’s happening to the compensation system there, to understand that it’s heading north.”
While the WSIB did not comment directly on Page’s and Hudon’s campaign, it did issue a news release for IWD, detailing its record on Ontario injured workers.
“Improvements in customer service and technology have resulted in 93 per cent of claims being approved within two weeks – many within 24 hours,” the WSIB claimed in the release. “As a result of improvements across the system, in the past five years, more than 200,000 workers fully recovered from their injuries and returned to work with no loss in wages.”
The WSIB also touted its commitment to healthcare. “Injured and ill workers are getting faster and improved access to more specialized medical care across Ontario,” it said. “We have doubled the availability of specialty clinics for surgery and other specialized procedures.”
Page said that he and Hudon became activists because trying to work through the system with employers and stakeholders was ineffective. “It seems the employer’s getting all the attention,” he said.
“If you can’t get your claim approved, then that’s a success for the WSIB. They don’t care what happens to you after that.”
Proposed legislative changes aim to protect workers
TORONTO, Ont. – The Ontario government is proposing new legislation that would amend the province’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA), the Fire Prevention and Protection Act and the Public Sector Labour Relations Transition Act if passed. According to a May 28 press release from the Ministry of Labour, the Employment and Labour Statute Law Amendment Act, 2015 would help to protect workers’ rights by: calculating survivor benefits based on the deceased worker’s occupation at the time of his or her diagnosis; prohibiting employers from preventing employees from reporting injuries or illnesses to the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board; raising the maximum corporate fine for WSIA offences from $100,000 to $500,000; and having the Ontario Labour Relations Board – rather than provincial courts – settle labour disputes, particularly for the firefighting industry. “Our government is committed to advancing safe, fair and respectful workplace practices,” said Labour Minister Kevin Flynn in a statement. “That’s why I’ve proposed these changes, which will, if they become law, provide increased fairness to workers.”
Manitoba’s time-loss injuries remain steady
WINNIPEG – The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) has announced a surplus of $110 million. The WCB released its annual report along with a five-year financial plan on May 20. “The surplus allowed us to announce a decrease of the average assessment rate for 2015 by approximately 13 per cent to $1.30 per $100 of assessable payroll,” said president and CEO Winston Maharaj. The report also introduced a new measure of “days lost to workplace injury and illness”, which is defined as the sum total of days the WCB has paid to workers in a given time frame, the WCB said in a statement on May 20. For 2014, 1.8 days were lost to workplace injury and illness for each full-time worker, down from 2.15 in 2010. The time-loss injury rate also remained consistent, at 3.2 per 100 full time workers in 2014.
Burial benefits increase for firefighters
FREDERICTON – The Government of New Brunswick is increasing burial and related-expenses benefits for families of eligible firefighters and former firefighters. Labour Minister Francine Landry introduced amendments to legislation on May 13, which will ensure benefits for families of eligible firefighters and former firefighters that are equivalent to those in the Worker’s Compensation Act, the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour said in a statement. “Firefighters across the province risk their lives every day and as a government, we greatly appreciate the work of all of our firefighters in helping keep New Brunswick families safe,” said Landry. “With these amendments, we are supporting firefighters and their families in the time they need us the most and providing assistance to the loved ones they leave behind.” The Firefighters’ Compensation Act was inadvertently overlooked when provisions increasing burial and related expenses were added to the Workers’ Compensation Act in 2012, said the Minister. The proposed amendments will be made retroactive to Dec. 20, 2012.