Category Archives: Workers Compensation

Man convicted of defrauding workers’ comp board

SASKATOON, Sask. – A judge in Saskatoon Provincial Court has sentenced a local man for defrauding the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). A news release from the Board stated that the man, identified only as a former labourer, had gone back to work while still receiving workers’ compensation benefits. He later reimbursed the fraudulent amount to the WCB. On May 3, the man pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge, as well as 30 hours of community service. “The WCB has a responsibility to safeguard the workers’ compensation system,” the Board stated in the release. “It relies on workers, employers and caregivers to accurately report injuries, employment activities, payroll and medical treatment.”

Lost-time incidence rate remains at historic low in Newfoundland for 2016

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador’s lost-time incidence rate for workplace injury and illness was 1.5 per 100 workers in 2016, remaining at an all-time low for the province, according to newly released numbers from WorkplaceNL, the province’s workers’ compensation board. An April 27 news release from the organization stated that this rate was based on more than 3,500 accepted lost-time claims from last year. The province saw 13 occupational fatalities in 2016, eight of which were from work-related diseases, but this was a decrease from 24 work fatalities in 2015. Newfoundland and Labrador hit a historic low of 1.5 per 100 workers in lost-time incidence for 2015 (COHSN, May 3), where it remained for 2016. “I am proud of the efforts from all partners in the province’s workplace health, safety and compensation system that have helped achieve this,” Perry Trimper, the Minister Responsible for WorkplaceNL, said in a press statement. “Reducing workplace incidents is everyone’s responsibility, and together we must continue to find ways to ensure that everyone returns home healthy and safe.” The province also saw a decline in lost-time incidence rates for serious injury and falls from heights, but an increase for violence and assault.

Fatal heart attack may have resulted from years of workplace bullying: WCB ruling

The Workers Compensation Board of Prince Edward Island (WCB) recently awarded benefits to a Hazelbrook, P.E.I. woman, after ruling that her husband’s death by cardiac arrest had been linked to workplace bullying.

Eric Donovan, 47, was a longtime employee of Queens County Residential Services (QCRS) who passed away on Nov. 11, 2013. The WCB awarded benefits to Donovan’s widow, Lisa Donovan, following a three-year legal proceeding. The ruling reportedly occurred last December, but was not publicized by the media until late March.

The award to Lisa Donovan was “based on a finding of fact that there was bullying, that there was resultant stress, that that stress was of a degree in severity that induced a heart attack, and that heart attack was fatal,” said her lawyer, James W. Macnutt, a partner with Charlottetown law firm Macnutt & Dumont.

Macnutt did not specify the type of bullying that Eric Donovan had allegedly undergone from his employer, but characterized it as “intense” and said that it had been going on for years.

“The evidence submitted to the WCB was accepted to establish all of the elements that ultimately led to compensation being payable,” added Macnutt, noting that some of Donovan’s co-workers had given affidavits swearing that they had experienced bullying at the same workplace “and some of them left the employment because of it.”

QCRS, which is a nonprofit organization that delivers programs and services to adults with intellectual disabilities in Charlottetown, did not respond to COHSN’s request for comment. The WCB declined to discuss specific details of the case.

While preparing for the case, Macnutt explained, he and his colleagues attempted to find a legal precedent involving a link between workplace bullying and a fatality. “We were not successful,” he said. “I’ve been swamped with calls and e-mails from other WCBs across the country in relation to this, and I can only say that they are indicating to me that they’re unaware of a similar ruling.”

But the Donovan case sends an important message to employers about the potential consequences of workplace bullying and the necessity of enforcing anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies, Macnutt stressed.

“Employers are damn well going to have to start complying with the rules and policies that they have implemented,” he said.

“And the stories that I’m getting from so many people on the street and from other contacts,” Macnutt continued, “it’s astonishing how many people are saying that they have been in workplaces where there has been consistent, health-threatening and health-injurious bullying and where nothing has been done by supervisors.”

The benefits that the WCB awarded to Lisa Donovan included funeral costs, death benefits and monthly survivor benefits based on a percentage of Eric Donovan’s pensionable salary, according to local media reports.

A statement from the P.E.I. government, which reportedly provides funding for QCRS’ staffing and operational costs, said that the organization is “responsible for ensuring the safety of their clients and staff” and for bringing up staff-related issues through its human-resources department and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“The incidence of bullying, which seems to be fairly frequent, has to be controlled,” said Macnutt. “Otherwise, there will be continuing consequences.”

Hospital union criticizes plan to pay WorkSafeBC surplus to employers

BURNABY, B.C. – The Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU) has spoken out against the B.C. Liberal government’s promise to pay WorkSafeBC’s budget surplus to employers. In a March 29 news release, the union called the plan “short-sighted” and accused the government of “turning its back on injured workers.” HEU secretary-business manager Jennifer Whiteside said in a press statement that those funds would be better used for safety education, violence prevention and better enforcement of health and safety regulations. “In the healthcare sector, and especially in residential care homes, injury rates from strains and from violence are unacceptably high and overwhelmingly impact women,” said Whiteside. “The B.C. Liberals are gifting surpluses to employers with no strings attached – no requirement that those funds be used to make workplaces safer. Meanwhile, care home staff are being injured at a rate four times the provincial average – and that’s unacceptable.” The HEU represents about 46,000 hospital employees across the province, according to information from the union.

Restaurant worker’s death sparks concerns from labour federation

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. – The B.C. Federation of Labour (BCFED) is calling for better safety protections for British Columbia workers after the recent death of a restaurant employee in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster. BCFED president Irene Lanzinger offered condolences to the victim’s family and colleagues in a March 31 news release. “This death, along with many others so far this year, [is] a sign that more needs to be done to protect workers,” said Lanzinger. “Health and safety protections are weak and not always rigorously enforced. Employers whose negligence kills or seriously injures workers are let off with a slap on the wrist.” Lanzinger also criticized the Christy Clark government’s cuts to WorkSafeBC benefits and its offering of WorkSafeBC’s large budget surplus as a bonus for employers, when that money should be funding better workplace safety protection and enforcement. “All workers must enjoy the basic right to health and safety protections at work and to come home safely to their families at the end of their shift.” The fatality occurred on March 22, when a Rivers Reach Pub employee fell onto a meat slicer while it was being repaired, according to local media reports.

Union praises plan to conduct asbestos inventory in B.C.

BURNABY, B.C. – Following an announcement by the British Columbia government that it is taking steps to build an inventory of provincial government buildings built before 1990 and containing asbestos, the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) applauded the move in March 27 news release. The union called the plan “a significant step in ensuring worker safety during construction, maintenance and renovation of government buildings,” adding that the inventory will cover 758 buildings, 451 of which are leased by the province. “It is unacceptable that workers are still being unknowingly exposed to asbestos in 2017. We have known about its deadly effects since the 1980s,” BCGEU president Stephanie Smith said in a press statement. “It is time for the government to move forward with this provincial inventory.” The release noted that the project could take as long as four years to complete, due to the number of buildings being listed. Asbestos-related disease is the leading cause of occupational fatality in B.C., and 44 per cent of accepted work-related deaths in 2016 were linked to asbestos exposure, according to information from WorkSafeBC, the province’s workers’ compensation board.

Unifor holding info sessions on hazmat-exposure claims for GE Canada workers

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – National private-sector union Unifor is holding drop-in information sessions this week for General Electric Canada (GE) employees who are considering filing workers’ compensation claims regarding hazardous-material exposure at the corporation’s Peterborough plant. A media release from the union invited GE workers and their families to the sessions, which are scheduled from March 28 to 30 at the Peterborough Naval Association’s Admiralty Hall. The sessions are providing information on the claims system, the status of cases, and the next steps in the process, and attendees can speak with members of Unifor, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, the provincial Ministry of Labour and Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc. “Unifor will be in attendance to aid current and former members who have or are considering an occupational-disease claim,” the release stated. The union encouraged interested parties to book appointment times in advance by phone.

Three cancers deemed presumptive for firefighters in B.C.

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The British Columbia government is adding three types of cancer to those that could be considered occupational diseases suffered by firefighters. According to a statement issued on March 6 by the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, breast cancer, prostate cancer and multiple myeloma will be added to the Firefighters Occupational Disease Regulation under the Workers’ Compensation Act. That means firefighters who develop those diseases after a certain period of time on the job would be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits without having to prove that the cancer is work-related. The province said it had first recognized certain cancers as occupational diseases for firefighters in 2005. Since then, the list of cancers has grown to ten and includes brain, bladder and testicular cancer, as well as leukemia. Heart disease and heart injury were also restored as illnesses presumed to be conditions developed by firefighters in 2014. “Firefighters are exposed to toxic environments that greatly contribute to increased cancer risks, more than double that of the general population,” said Gord Ditchburn, president and board chairman of the B.C. Professional Firefighters Association. Members across the province are expected to benefit from the additional coverage, as will their families who, Ditchburn said, are often the ones who must navigate the coverage process with WorkSafeBC.

Former Alberta government knew farm safety law was needed, says report

An internal report by the previous Alberta government has revealed that the Progressive Conservatives were fully aware that the province’s agriculture sector desperately needed mandatory workers’ compensation coverage.

The Feb. 16, 2015 report stated that every year, between 18 and 20 Albertan farm workers were dying in occupational accidents, more than 4,000 were injured on the job and more than 400 of the injured were out of commission for at least two months, according to a Feb. 21 press release from the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), which obtained the report though a freedom-of-information request.

“I’ve worked on a feed lot, and I’ve always known that agricultural work is dangerous work. But the magnitude of these numbers is eye-opening,” AFL president Gil McGowan said in a press statement about the report. “This utterly repudiates the arguments against basic workplace protections for agricultural employees.

“Anyone who reads this report and still says that Alberta doesn’t need common-sense agricultural workplace laws has no heart,” added McGowan.

After Rachel Notley’s NDP government came into power, Bill 6, or the Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act, went into effect in the province on Dec. 10, 2015. The new legislation made workers’ compensation coverage compulsory for injured agricultural workers, giving farm employees the same basic protections that other Alberta sectors already had.

Prior to Notley’s election, Alberta’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner revealed that there had been 25 farming fatalities in the province in 2014. Twenty of the victims had been owners, operators, owners’ family members or employees of their respective farms (COHSN, April 21, 2015).

The government report also stated that agricultural workers in Alberta were losing more than $10 million in pay from lost-time injuries per year. In addition, it revealed that standard workers’ compensation coverage would cost less for farm employers than the private insurance that workers were relying on did.

“This document shows that the problem existed, that the research showed that reforms were necessary, and that this was ignored by successive Conservative governments who did nothing,” said McGowan. “This is almost criminal neglect that directly cost some Albertans their lives.”

The AFL release noted that since the passing of Bill 6, the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) has processed 763 injury claims from farm workers, 407 of which had involved disabling injuries.

“The need for further occupational health and safety and WCB protection for workers in this sector [was] long overdue and was clearly needed. The government could no longer leave worker-injury compensation up to individual farm operators,” an AFL backgrounder to the report read.

“WCB is the most cost-effective option for the vast majority of farms in Alberta, compared to private or commercial insurance plans.”

Young workers least likely to wear hearing protection in B.C. construction sector

RICHMOND, B.C. – Construction workers under the age of 21 are less likely to wear hearing protection on the job than are those of any other age group in British Columbia, say new statistics from the province’s occupational health and safety authority. According to data that WorkSafeBC released on Feb. 23, nearly one-quarter of surveyed B.C. construction workers under 21 years old reported not wearing hearing protection in 2016, as opposed to 13 per cent of workers older than 50 and 11 per cent of workers aged from 21 to 50. Young workers in construction are also less likely to wear hearing protection than young workers in other industries that require it, WorkSafeBC stated in a news release, adding that the organization had accepted more than 37,000 workers’ compensation claims for noise-induced hearing loss since 2006. “Noise-induced hearing loss… can be caused by a single exposure to loud noise or, more typically, by repeated exposures to consistent noise. While the damage may be painless, it is irreversible and may go unnoticed for years,” WorkSafeBC occupational audiologist Sasha Brown said in a press statement. “We want to raise the level of awareness among employers of the prevalence and seriousness of this occupational disease.” WorkSafeBC collected its latest data from more than 160,000 hearing tests that B.C. employers conducted last year.