Category Archives: Workers Compensation

Eleven women face deportation following human trafficking investigation in Ottawa

(Canadian OH&S News) — Sex worker groups are condemning the police raids on massage parlours in Ottawa that have resulted in deportation orders for 11 women. The investigation inspected 20 massage parlours and body rub facilities in the city from April 27 to 29.

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) announced on May 8 that it had detained 11 women on immigration-related matters after a joint investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Ottawa Bylaw Services and the Human Trafficking Unit of the OPS. All of the women appeared for admissibility and detention hearings during the week of April 27 and were subsequently issued deportation orders as they did not possess valid work permits.

Representatives from four sex worker advocacy organizations decried the police’s actions in a statement issued on May 11, which said that the threat of deportation in human trafficking investigations increases women’s vulnerability to violence and limits the ability of victims to come forward.

“Investigations under the guise of trafficking and police raids make the situation even worse. It makes people hide further underground, makes them more vulnerable to violence and endangers their safety,” Elene Lam of Butterfly, an Asian and migrant sex workers support network, said in the statement.

Executive director of Maggie’s – Toronto Sex Workers’ Action Project Jean McDonald said this poses major health and safety concerns for sex workers. “In Toronto, for instance, we’ve had a number of robberies, violent robberies and assaults on migrant sex workers, some of whom are working in massage parlours. Because they may face deportation if they come forward, they can’t make a proper report to the police.”

McDonald suggested that if police truly want to help human trafficking victims they should offer them immunity from deportation and detention and an opportunity to apply for permanent residency. This would encourage victims to report instances of abuse, she said.

“Not only will this protect women who may be involved – whether willingly or unwillingly – in the industry, it will also assist in enforcement efforts to combat trafficking.”

No charges had been laid against the 11 individuals as of May 12. The CBSA investigation is ongoing and additional immigration charges may follow, according to the OPS statement.

“Based on the investigation we conducted during the project itself, there was no immediate evidence of exploitation or human trafficking in any locations that we inspected,” said Sgt. Jeff LeBlanc of the OPS Human Trafficking Unit. The police often get complaints about massage parlours in residential neighbourhoods that are then transferred to the human trafficking unit, he said.

Eleven bylaw charges were issued for improper licensing following the investigation. Establishments must obtain business licenses and massage parlours need massage parlour licenses, according to LeBlanc. The human trafficking unit decided to partner with bylaw services because they are knowledgeable in the licensing requirements, he said.

“Obviously, the main goal is safety of the clients and the safety of the workers,” he said. Many of the establishments had doors that locked from the inside, which could pose safety risks for workers and clients, he noted.

“If this is how we are helping people, it just seems ridiculous,” said McDonald, referring to women being deported. “It really exposes the fallacy of human trafficking laws in Canada… They’re not really helping the people who may actually be facing exploitation or violence within their workplaces.”

Effect of summer outdoor temperatures on work-related injuries in Quebec

Ariane Adam-Poupart, Audrey Smargiassi, Joseph Zayed and France Labrèche, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal; Marc-Antoine Busque and Patrice Duguay, Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST), Montréal; and Michel Fournier, Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal

The objective of this study was to quantify the associations between occupational injury compensations and exposure to summer outdoor temperatures in Quebec, Canada. The relationship between 374,078 injuries compensated by the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) (between May and September, 2003-2010) and maximum daily outdoor temperatures was modelled using generalized linear models with negative binomial distributions. Pooled effect sizes for all 16 health regions of Quebec were estimated with random-effect models for meta-analyses for all compensations and by sex, age group, mechanism of injury, industrial sector and occupations (manual vs. other) within each sector. Time lags and cumulative effect of temperatures were also explored. The relationship between daily counts of compensations and maximum daily temperatures reached statistical significance for three health regions. The incidence-rate ratio (IRR) of daily compensations per 1°C increase was 1.002 (95 per cent CI 1.002 to 1.003) for all health regions combined. Statistically significant positive associations were observed for men, workers aged less than 45 years, various industrial sectors with both indoor and outdoor activities and for slips/trips/falls, contact with object/equipment and exposure to harmful substances/environment. Manual occupations were not systematically at higher risk than non-manual and mixed ones. This study is the first to quantify the association between work-related injury compensations and exposure to summer temperatures according to physical demands of the occupation and this warrants further investigations. In the context of global warming, results can be used to estimate future impacts of summer outdoor temperatures on workers, as well as to plan preventive interventions.

Occ Environ Med, Volume 72, Issue 5, pages 338-345. Correspondence to: Dr. France Labrèche, Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité du travail (IRSST), 505 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 3C2; email: labreche.france@irsst.qc.ca.

WorkSafeNB appoints new members to workers’ comp appeals tribunal

New Brunswick’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal has a new interim chair and five new vice chairs, all appointed by WorkSafeNB, according to a news release from the provincial government, dated April 17. J. Richard Hatchette accepted the position of interim chair for the Tribunal on April 1, while Shelley R. Dumouchel, Jennifer Cleversey Moffitt, Denyse Hélène Landry, Anik Bossé, and Candace R. Salmon were appointed as the organization’s vice chairs, the release stated. “The chosen candidates have a wide range of professional experience and expertise that will ensure our province operates with an effective Appeals Tribunal,” Francine Landry, the province’s Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour and minister responsible for WorkSafeNB, said in a press statement. “These candidates have the necessary skills and qualifications to carry out the functions of the tribunal, while reflecting regional, linguistic and gender diversity.” The Tribunal deals with appeals of WorkSafeNB decisions.

Lost-time injuries stay at record low in Newfoundland

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – According to the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (WHSCC), Newfoundland and Labrador’s workers’ compensation board, the province’s lost-time-injury rate remained at an all-time low for the third straight year in 2014. According to a press release that the WHSCC sent out on April 28, N.L.’s lost-time-incidence rate has reached a plateau of 1.6 per 100 workers. This low is the latest result of a continual decrease from 1989 to 2012, from a high of 5.2. The rate for workers aged between 15 and 24 has also reached a plateau, at 1.5, as has the rate for soft-tissue injuries, at 1.1; the release also claimed that 92.2 per cent of the province’s employers reported no injuries in 2014, a slight improvement from the previous year. “While our ultimate goal would be to not have any workplace injuries [in] our province, the historic low we are currently experiencing is very encouraging,” Sandy Collins, Minister responsible for the WHSCC, said in a press statement. “It is incumbent upon us… to continue to build upon our efforts to date to promote safe work habits and create even more awareness around how to prevent workplace injuries.” The WHSCC also reported that N.L. saw 29 fatalities in 2014, 11 from workplace accidents and 18 from occupational diseases.

Study: time-loss injuries may depend on work demands, premium rates

A recent study by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto examined the factors that determine whether an occupational injury results in lost work time. Although the severity of an injury can make a difference, IWH researchers found that physical workload and the employer’s insurance premium rate may also be linked to time loss.

“Premium rates, work demands play role in whether injuries involve time loss” has been published in the January issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine and the Winter 2015 issue of At Work, the IWH’s quarterly research journal. Lead author Peter Smith, Ph.D. and his team examined a random sample of 7,000 no-time-loss claims from the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, Ontario’s workers’ compensation organization, and then matched them up with lost-time claims for similar injuries and incidents. These comparisons helped Dr. Smith’s researchers to highlight common characteristics of claims.

Dr. Smith and his team found that physically demanding work, predictably, often led to time-loss claims. But while age and time on the job did not appear to have a connection to time loss, nor did the size of the company, claims from employers paying high insurance premiums were less likely to submit injury claims resulting in lost work time.

“Most people assume that lost-time and no-lost-time injuries would similarly rise or fall with a change in safety performance,” Dr. Smith told COHSN. “However, this is not always the case, as our research has shown.” He added that the distinction between both types of injuries “is becoming more blurry” and that their rates now “paint different pictures of safety performance.”

This is a significant change in perception from that of the current workers’ compensation system, Dr. Smith pointed out. “In Ontario, lost-time injuries have been the most common measure used to track the performance of occupational health and safety initiatives or programs,” he said. “No-lost-time injuries – when someone is injured and requires medical attention, but is still able to return to work the day after the injury – have traditionally been viewed as representing less severe injuries.”

The study findings highlight the necessity for the worker’s compensation system to incorporate multiple measures into safety-performance assessment, Dr. Smith explained. “Firm-level incentives, in particular the premium rate paid by an employer, influence whether a worker will return to work or not the day after his or her injury. We don’t know why.

“For example, is it due to a workplace’s culture or policies and practices that people are less likely to take time off after an injury? If it is due to workplace practices, are they practices such as work accommodation or claims management and claims suppression?”

Dr. Smith said that the study results showed that safety-performance assessment of employers needed to expand beyond lost-time claims as the only measurement factor.

“We need to include all injuries in assessing performance, and when a claim does not result in time off work, we should collect information that tells us whether no time was lost because the injury was relatively minor or because modified or alternate duties were available,” he said. “Preventing absences does not tell us about whether we are preventing serious injuries, only that we are preventing absences.

“Ideally, this data would also be complemented with information about hazards, awareness of rights and responsibilities and workplace policies and procedures to prevent injuries – things that I would term ‘leading indicators’ – which will mean we don’t have to wait for injuries to occur to think about where to intervene and what to do.”

The winter issue of At Work is available for download at http://www.iwh.on.ca/at-work/79.

New oh&s regulations to go into effect in N.W.T., Nun.

YELLOWKNIFE, N.W.T. – The Northwest Territories government is implementing new occupational health and safety legislation this year. On April 16, The N.W.T.’s Worker’s Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC) announced that the recently drafted Occupational Health and Safety Regulations will officially become law on June 1, with similar regulations expected to go into effect in Nunavut later in 2015. According to background information from the WSCC, the territorial government’s Safety Advisory Committee developed the new regulations through participation in extensive engagement with N.W.T. residents. “It is very important for organizations to thoroughly review the new Regulations to see how the changes will affect their operations,” WSCC president and CEO Dave Grundy said in a press statement following the announcement. “One of the major highlights of the new Regulations is the increased support for an Internal Responsibility System (IRS), which allows employers and workers to ensure safe workplaces together.” The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations are available online at http://www.wscc.nt.ca/sites/default/files/documents/NWT%20OHS%20REGS.pdf.

WCB report: workplace injuries hit record low in N.S.

HALIFAX, N.S. – The province of Nova Scotia saw yet another decline in occupational injuries last year, reaching an all-time low, according to the 2014 Annual Report from the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia (WCB). The report, which was released on April 10, also revealed that four of the province’s five largest sectors – including fishing and construction – had improved their injury rates in 2014. The time-loss injury rate for all of N.S. dipped to 1.82 time-loss injuries per 100 covered workers last year; the same rate dropped from 2.25 to 1.90 for construction, while the province’s fishing industry lost 12,769 fewer work days from injury in 2014 than in the previous year, the report stated. “The conversation in our province is changing when it comes to workplace safety, as people decide that work should only be done if it can be done safely,” WCB CEO Stuart MacLean said in a press release. “Workplaces are putting programs, tools and resources in place to make sure Nova Scotians return home safely… and we’re seeing focused efforts in industries and sectors to ensure injury prevention.” A similar Annual Report from WorkSafeNB, released on April 2, claimed that New Brunswick had also seen improvement in 2014: 2.89 injuries for every 100 full-time employees, with 96 per cent of injured workers capable of returning to work post-rehabilitation.

WorkSafeNB report: provincial injury rates continue to decline

SAINT JOHN, N.B. – Workplace injury rates in New Brunswick have decreased again, making it one of the safest Canadian provinces in which to work, according to the 2014 Annual Report from WorkSafeNB, the province’s workers’ compensation board. In 2014, there were 2.89 injuries for every 100 full-time employees – a decrease from previous years – and 96 per cent of injured workers were capable of returning to work post-rehabilitation, the report revealed. In addition, 86.4 per cent of workers who attended the organization’s Rehabilitation Centre in Grand Bay-Westfield were mostly or completely satisfied with its services, WorkSafeNB claimed. “New Brunswickers have continued to demonstrate that a workplace is much more than the place where people come to punch a clock and do their jobs,” said WorkSafeNB president and CEO Gerard Adams, in an April 2 press release. “It is a place where individual effort and group collaboration are essential to all aspects of an organization’s success, including the creation of a health and safety culture.” Because of the declining occupational injury rates, employers in N.B. pay lower insurance rates than those in other Atlantic provinces do, the report also said.

Ontario MPP accuses labour federation of receiving “slush fund” from WSIB

An opposition Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario has charged that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has been operating a virtual “slush fund” for the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) – but the federation has responded that the accuser isn’t up on the facts.

On March 24, Conservative MPP Randy Hillier stated in the provincial legislature that WSIB had given $12.3 million in grants to the OFL over the previous decade, but that there was little link between the grants and accident prevention. “There has never been any oversight of this fund whatsoever, no applications, no reporting and zero value for money,” Hillier reportedly said.

“KPMG has told you that this program is worthless,” Hillier added in the legislature, referring to a report on the federation by auditing corporation KPMG. He claimed that some of the grant funds had gone to gym memberships, car allowances and staff-training sessions at the Bayview Wildwood Resort in Severn Bridge. “That’s where the money is going. It’s not going to help injured workers.”

Hillier did not respond to COHSN’s request for an interview. But OFL president Sid Ryan dismissed Hillier’s charges as “outrageous” and completely mistaken.

“The man hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about,” Ryan said.

Backgrounder information from the OFL stated that the WSIB money funds a program called the Occupational Disability Response Team (ODRT), which trains workers and employers on the rights and responsibilities of those making workers’ compensation claims. Automobile expenses for this program cover travel around the province for trainers to reach employees in numerous communities.

“This is a program that’s been in existence for 25 years. It’s not the preventative health and safety program that he alleged,” said Ryan. “We train in excess of 1,000 workers every single year to represent millions of workers in Ontario.”

He added that the KPMG report included only one reference to the ODRT. “And it actually says it’s a good program that’s actually helping workers and good value for money,” he said. “He’s completely misrepresenting the KPMG report.”

Ryan also scoffed at Hillier’s accusations regarding gym memberships and resort hospitality. “There’s a wellness program in the collective agreement of all employees of the OFL, and that wellness program can be used for gym membership,” he explained, adding that the WSIB had stopped funding this program years before.

In addition, the Bayview Wildwood Resort was used merely for a weekend training seminar, according to the OFL.

“It’s a two-and-a-half-star resort, with normal occupancy. It’s $130 a night, and for the $130, you get three meals,” said Ryan, calling the deal a great value for the money spent.

“He talks about money being spent in the Muskokas, makes it sound like all the people are living high on the hog,” said Ryan about Hillier. “But he’s completely wrong.”

According to WSIB public-relations specialist Christine Arnott, the Board acknowledged that its grants program needed improvement in 2010, when it took measures to strengthen grant contracts to comply with government directives on travel, meal and hospitality expenses.

“We also initiated a Value for Money Audit (VFMA) on the Grants and Research Program in 2012,” said Arnott. “The VFMA concluded that the grants program did exhibit value and produced notable results at the individual research project or grant-funded activity level. It also acknowledged that improvements to some elements of the program could be made, including overall strategy and governance.

“The WSIB is legislated to support training and research.”

Ryan speculated that Hillier’s charge was a reaction to the Conservative party’s loss in last year’s provincial election. “Sour grapes, there’s no question about it,” he said.

“Here’s a guy that was measuring the drapes to become the Minister of Labour in the Tim Hudak government, and the Ontario Federation of Labour mobilized their members, so we basically cleaned their clocks,” said Ryan.

“And he’s smarting from that.”

Sawmill-explosion inquest adjourns after new evidence surfaces

British Columbia Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe has temporarily adjourned an ongoing inquest into the fatal Lakeland sawmill explosion in Prince George in April 2012, citing newly disclosed information about subsequent investigations into the tragedy.

Inquest counsel John M. Orr, Q.C. told COHSN that lawyers for the Lakeland mill had commissioned a separate forensic investigation into the blast – and that WorkSafeBC, the province’s workers’ compensation board, had known about this for more than two years.

“I had started asking a number of questions during the inquest about whether or not the company had done their own internal investigation,” Orr said. “Initially, I was told no.” But then Orr and his team discovered that Case Forensics (CF), a Seattle-based forensic-engineering firm, had done a very extensive investigation.

At first, the Lakeland legal team refused to release the information, citing client privilege. But the lawyers later relented, after a 90-minute phone call between Lapointe and CF. “And so we get a USB stick with 30 gigs of information. This was a massive, really, really big investigation,” said Orr, who stressed that CF had never compiled a report. “It’s just raw investigative information.”

Orr added that WorkSafeBC had declined to meet with CF and accept all of the latter’s information in 2012, instead proceeding with issuing its own report. “That raises a lot of questions about the WorkSafeBC report,” he noted. Upon learning this, Orr requested the adjournment so he could “go through the case report, compare it to all the WorkSafeBC materials and see if we’ve got a problem, in that the WorkSafeBC report may not be reliable.”

Lapointe announced that the inquest was adjourned on March 25. This came two days after the western district of the United Steelworkers (USW) pulled out of the inquest because of issues with the way the investigations had been handled.

“We weren’t satisfied that the proper questions were going to be answered,” USW District 3 director Stephen Hunt said, “and it was really turning into a public-relations exercise.” Hunt charged that the inquest had been focusing too much on what the employers and WorkSafeBC had accomplished since the disaster. “Well, not good enough. We want to know why the two mills exploded and what the regulator and others and the employer were doing prior to the fatalities.”

Hunt pointed out relevant facts that he felt the inquest had been ignoring. “There was an anonymous call from a worker who said, ‘I’m afraid that this mill is going to blow up like Babine Lake,’” he said, referring to the similar explosion at the Babine Forest Products mill near Burns Lake in January 2012. In addition, a fully qualified hygiene inspector visited the mill before the blast, but didn’t measure the dust level, Hunt claimed.

“You’ve got the people who are responsible, their only responsibility is the health and safety of workers, and they just didn’t do their job.”

WorkSafeBC’s investigations into both explosions had already come under heavy criticism, as neither had resulted in criminal charges. Last year, a government inquiry into the Babine disaster accused WorkSafeBC of handling evidence inappropriately, treating the disaster as merely an oh&s case rather than as a criminal one (COHSN, Feb. 24, 2014).

Hunt and the union had advocated for a public inquiry into both explosions. “We were worried about this from the start, that the inquest would not get to the real issues,” he said. “The whole thing needs way more answers than a court or jury could ever give, and it should be a full-blown inquiry, and perhaps a judge presiding over it with proper rules of evidence, and the right to subpoena and empower people to testify.”

The B.C. Coroners Service stated on March 25 that a date for resumption of the inquest would be set as soon as possible. Despite the delay, Orr considered the adjournment a positive development.

“This is really good. We found a large amount of new information,” he said. “This is what the inquest’s about. The strength of the inquest process is that we get to everything.”