Continue Reading Former rubber workers: ‘Those plants ruined us’
Claims
[Dec. 12 update: In response to The Record’s series, WSIB Chair orders review of hundreds of denied claims]. Once the booming Rubber Capital of Canada, Kitchener’s plants employed thousands. While many of those plants have long closed, former workers and their families…
Workers’ compensation: morality versus the business case
The experience of being injured at work and claiming workers’ compensation can greatly influence injured workers’ possibilities for rehabilitation and successful return to work. A new study examines why some claims are prolonged, conflicted and frequently associated with confrontational interactions between Ontario…
Continue Reading Workers’ compensation: morality versus the business case
The presumption of entitlement in workers’ compensation
A recent blog post by lawyer Antony Singleton questions the way a recent decision by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) has handled the legal presumption of entitlement in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
The presumption of entitlement for…
Continue Reading The presumption of entitlement in workers’ compensation
Rejected claims review – justice for many still denied
The results of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s (WSIB) recently completed review of rejected claims from workers at the General Electric plant in Peterborough caused anger, frustration and disappointment. Of the 233 previously denied occupational disease claims reconsidered, only 71…
Continue Reading Rejected claims review – justice for many still denied
Construction industry anxious for handout from Doug Ford’s WSIB
A recent article in the Daily Commercial News reports that construction industry leaders are anxious for details from the new Ford government. David Frame, director of government relations for the Ontario General Contractors Association, said this year the Workplace Safety and Insurance…
Continue Reading Construction industry anxious for handout from Doug Ford’s WSIB
Tip of the iceberg
In the recently published Parkland Institute study Safer by Design: How Alberta Can Improve Workplace Safety, authors Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull and Bob Barnetson offer recommendations to address the unacceptable (and underestimated) number of workplace injuries and illnesses through better preventive measures, occupational…
Under review – work-related cancer & compensation
“Work-related cancer compensation to be reviewed by province” (CBC News, April 13, 2018)
This past Friday Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn announced the launch of a review of how occupational cancers are evaluated for workers’ compensation so “the system works properly for…
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Pace of GE Peterborough claims review questioned
“GE Peterborough workers’ cancer cases get second look” / Kristin Rushowy (Toronto Star, 23 Oct.)
Late last week former GE Peterborough employee Roger Fowler received word his claim for workers’ compensation for colorectal cancer is being reviewed. After fighting for 26 years…
Continue Reading Pace of GE Peterborough claims review questioned
Miners’ claims – moving forward (but not for all)
“Ontario pledges $1 million to help ailing miners exposed to toxic dust.” / Sara Mojtehedzadeh (Toronto Star, Oct. 11, 2017)
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour is expected to announce today funding for the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) to…
Continue Reading Miners’ claims – moving forward (but not for all)
Registration open – Bancroft Institute session on pre-existing conditions
The 2017/2018 season of the Bancroft Institute for Studies on Workers’ Compensation and Work Injury gets underway Tuesday week on October 3rd. The first session is a full-day event to share the latest information from both health care and legal perspectives on…
Continue Reading Registration open – Bancroft Institute session on pre-existing conditions