Selected news of workplace injury, illness and compensation.
As a boy he was engulfed in flames at a Barrie gas station. Seven decades later, he has finally been awarded compensation | Toronto Star (Dec. 30, 2021)
Air Canada employee who fell on stairs in her home eligible for workers’ compensation: judge | National Post (Dec. 21, 2021)
WSIB says they are ‘here to help’, refutes criticism of exposure claims | Canadian Occupational Safety (Dec. 15, 2021)
WSIB under the fire for ignoring workers’ claims despite ‘brutal’ exposures | Canadian Occupational Safety (Dec. 13, 2021)
They call it Driver Inc. and it’s a ‘billion dollar scam’ | Toronto Star (Dec. 12, 2021)
Why tracking risk of disease in the workplace is a national issue | Canadian Occupational Safety (Dec. 9, 2021)
Experience ratings detrimental to workers and employers | Canadian Occupational Safety (Dec. 9, 2021)
Feds failed to ensure farms protected migrant workers from COVID-19: Auditor General | CTV News (Dec. 9, 2021)
BC: Less than half of injured workers submit comp claims: report | Canadian Occupational Safety (Dec. 8, 2021)
‘Far from perfect’: Report reveals latest on work fatalities, injuries | OHS Canada (Dec. 6, 2021)
Plastics workers’ fight for justice: number of deaths ‘astronomical’ | Canadian Occupational Safety ( Dec. 6, 2021)
Labour minister to meet with Peterborough workplace cancer patients | Peterborough Examiner (Dec. 5, 2021)
Labour ministry committing $6M to help track and prevent workplace cancers in Ontario | Toronto Star (Nov. 26, 2021)
Hundreds of ex-plant workers struck down by lung disease, cancer | Canadian Occupational Safety (Nov. 25, 2021)
Why financial penalties for employers could be detrimental to worker safety | Canadian Occupational Safety (Nov. 21, 2021)
Ontario’s government is transferring billions from workers’ compensation fund to bosses | Jacobin (Nov. 17, 2021)
How an entire community was affected by an ‘invisible disease’ – occupational exposure series | Canadian Occupational Safety (Nov. 15, 2021)
Ontario miners exposed to aluminum dust still fighting for justice | Canadian Occupational Safety (Nov. 9, 2021)
Lessons from COVID-19 for the next transmission: we need better data on workplace transmission | The Conversation, Nov. 9, 2021)
Advisory board will help shape occupational disease policy in Ontario | Northern Ontario Business (Nov. 2, 2021)
Provincial advocacy group calling for overhaul of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board | Northern Ontario Business (Oct. 30, 2021)
‘We’re not going away’: in building evidence of workplace cancer clusters, workers want change to the system meant to protect them | Toronto Star (Oct. 29, 2021)
Sudbury protesters say injured workers’ benefits have been cut | CBC News (Oct. 29, 2021)
A surplus of denied claims: Doug Ford’s WSIB giveaway will hurt injured workers | Ricochet (Oct. 29, 2021)
Gig economy the next target in Ontario labour-law changes | Globe and Mail (Oct. 25, 2021)
Ontario introduces omnibus labour legislation, including the right to disconnect | Toronto Star (Oct. 25, 2021)
Ontario’s Ford government has lots more work to do to treat temp workers fairly [editorial] | Toronto Star (Oct. 18, 2021)
Ontario labour minister says new temp agency laws will end working conditions he describes as akin to ‘modern-day slavery’ | Toronto Star (Oct. 18, 2021)
Nearly two decades after working at a pulp mill (Dryden), workers complain their health was compromised | CTV W5 (Oct. 15, 2021)
Millions returned to employers with WSIB changes: Minister | Windsor Star (Oct. 14, 2021)
Ontario Labour Minister trumpets ‘tax cut’ for small businesses | Ancaster News (Oct. 8, 2021)
Psychological injury claims” on the rise | Canadian Occupational Safety (Oct. 7, 2021)
Risk assessment key to effective mine rescue plan | Canadian Occupational Safety (Oct. 7, 2021)
Ontario to allow WSIB to direct surplus funds back to employers | Globe and Mail (Oct. 6, 2021)
Workers’ rights advocates blast WSIB’s move to return up to $3 billion in excess funds to employers | Toronto Star (Oct. 6, 2021)
Tribute / homage to Katherine Lippel, 1954-2021 | On The Move Partnership (Sep. 27, 2021)
Farm where 200 fell ill in huge COVID-19 outbreak is the first to face pandemic prosecution under workplace safety laws | Toronto Star (Sep. 27, 2021)
“Somebody is going to get hurt”| The Local (Sep. 22, 2021)
New WSIB poll shows Ontarians interested in workplace safety | Daily Commercial News (Sep. 13, 2021)
The tail of COVID-19: doctors, patients coming to grips with long COVID | Ottawa Citizen ( Sep. 8, 2021)
Unions demand better protection for workers during COVID-19 pandemic at Toronto Labour Day march | CBC News (Sep. 6, 2021)
Six former Elliot Lake miners to be memorialized this Labour Day weekend | Elliot Lake Today (Sep. 2, 2021)
Dryden: How an Ontario paper mill poisoned nearby First Nations | National Observer (Sep. 1, 2021)
Gig workers in Ontario lack basic labour rights | Toronto Star (Aug. 31, 2021)
Why a GTA woman is still fighting the WSIB for help a decade after her sister fell ill | CBC News (Aug. 23, 2021)
Ontario court certifies $400 million lawsuit against Uber | Insurance Business Canada (Aug. 16, 2021)
Injured workers’ advocates say WSIB surplus resulted from cutbacks | Barrie Today (Aug. 11, 2021)
Plan to distribute WSIB surplus to employers angers workers | tbnewswatch (Aug. 11, 2021)
Saskatchewan (and PEI) looks for input on workers’ comp | Canadian HRReporter (Aug. 3, 2021)
Toxic drug crisis, pandemic have left front-line workers struggling to cope (presumptive coverage)| Globe and Mail (July 31, 2021)
What COVID reveals: roots of a dream (Migrant farmer Juan Luis Mendoza de la Cruz) | Toronto Star (July 29, 2021)
Ontario police chiefs’ call to change WSIB benefits called ludicrous | Kingston Whig Standard (July 23, 2021)
Are Canadian uranium workers still more likely to die from lung cancer? | National Observer (July 22, 2021)
‘In almost all outbreaks we encounter agency staff.’ How Peel – and the province – grappled with a quiet crisis: temp work | Toronto Star (July 20, 2021)
Many workplace ‘accidents’ are preventable. Stop the killing, and start criminal investigations | Toronto Star (July 19, 2021)
BC: Police officer’s widow still fighting WorkSafe to save her house | Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News (July 17, 2021)
Police group voices concerns over OACP proposals | HRReporter (July 16, 2021)
Uber is going to court to block the release of workers’ compensation records |Toronto Star (July 13, 2021)
Multiple people dead following Kelowna B.C. crane collapse | CBC News (July 12, 2021)
A teenager burst into ‘a ball of flame’ on the job at a service station. His quest for justice took decades | Toronto Star (July 11, 2021)
Why Canada’s low-paid, precariously employed essential workers need a better deal | CBC News – Sunday Morning (July 10, 2021)
“It’s really been a struggle”: injured workers in Peel face additional barriers during pandemic | Brampton Guardian (July 8, 2021)
WSIB’s latest quarterly rebate payout largest in new program’s history | OHS Canada (July 8, 2021)
‘Stop walking on our diseased loved ones’ graves’ | Peterborough Examiner (July 7, 2021)
Ex-cop finally paid $630K in lost wages due to PTSD after years of living in poverty | CBC News (July 5, 2021)
Canada’s real death toll from COVID-19 may far exceed official tally: report | CTV News (June 29, 2021)
A Nickel mining company in Sudbury has seen injuries triple over 5 years | Press Progress (June 28, 2021)
Local health-care workers dealing with effects of long-haul COVID | Beacon Herald (June 24, 2021)
Fifth migrant worker dies in quarantine. Is ‘jurisdictional football’ over COVID regulations to blame? | Toronto Star (June 16, 2021)
Privacy, required COVID-19 vaccines highlighted at employment law webinar | Lawyer’s Daily (June 15, 2021)
Ontario has left frontline workers at mercy of COVID-19 | Jacobin (June 15, 2021)
Advocates call for stronger migrant workers rights amid deaths on the job in Canada | Global News (June 13, 2021)
Fiera Foods ‘partner’ plant convicted over deaths of two temporary workers | Toronto Star (June 7, 2021)
What’s driving COVID-19 workplace transmission in the third wave | Global News (June 5, 2021)
Unions still demanding better support for BC’s injured workers | The Tyee (June 1, 2021)
Injured workers join forces demanding change to WSIB system, labour laws | Daily Commercial News (June 1, 2021)
Labour Council to mark Injured Workers’ Day virtually | iHeart Radio Windsor (May 31, 2021)
Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit will investigate farm worker death | CBC News (May 25, 2021)
Some Canadian provinces provide paid COVID-19 vaccination leave, others encourage leave through reimbursement programs | Lexology (May 20, 2021)
In one of Ontario’s hardest hit regions, COVID-19 takes a toll on essential workers | CBC News (May 19, 2021)
Workplace inspections show greater COVID-19 compliance, province says. But experts say requirements are too lax | Toronto Star (May 18, 2021)
How a COVID-19 ‘blind spot’ put Ontario’s essential workplaces at risk | Toronto Star (May 17, 2021)
PSW temp worker risks her life to help others but barely earns enough to get by | CityNews (May 10, 2021)
Pandemic good and bad news for N.S. Workers’ Compensation Board | CBC News (May 5, 2021)
‘Like a bomb going off in your family’ | Toronto Star / Orangeville Banner (May 4, 2021)
Labour advocates, health-care experts pan Ontario’s COVID-19 paid sick leave plan | CBC News (Apr. 29, 2021)
Letter: A mother’s thoughts on national Day of Mourning | Manitoulin Expositor (Apr. 28, 2021)
Uber pitches new provincial rules to keep gig workers as contractors – as workers’ resistance ramps up | Toronto Star (Apr. 28, 2021)
Former Neelon Casting workers start receiving compensation for workplace illnesses | CBC Sudbury (Apr. 27, 2021)
Privacy, rights of workers with disabilities at issue in commercial dispute over alleged negligence | Law Times (Apr. 19, 2021)
Study focused on challenges for miners seeking compensation for COPD | Timmins Daily Press (Apr. 15, 2021)
When workers comp claims for COVID-19 fall through the cracks, the costs often land on sick employees and taxpayers | Globe and Mail (Apr. 13, 2021)
Ontario must shift to essential workers now that millions more COVID-19 vaccine doses have arrived, experts say | CTV News (Apr. 7, 2021)
Canadians working from home experiencing burnout, physical discomfort, work-life conflict: survey | CBC News (Apr. 6, 2021)
‘The time has certainly come now’: Ontario paid sick days urgently needed among deadly third wave, officials say | CTV News (Apr. 5, 2021)
Workers feared for safety at Ontario baby formula plant | CBC News (Mar. 30, 2021)
Multiple Amazon facilities face scrutiny from Ontario for COVID-19, other health & safety concerns | Globe and Mail (Mar. 24, 2021)
Essential workers need access to mental health services (through WSIB) | Blackburn News (Mar. 24, 2021)
More than 600 Amazon workers in Brampton got COVID-19. Why were so few reported to the province? | Toronto Star (Mar. 21, 2021)
He disinfected subways, helped disabled adults and worked as a PSW during a COVID-19 outbreak. What one temp worker wants you to know about life on the pandemic front lines | Toronto Star (Mar. 20, 2021)
When COVID-19 strikes workplaces, what does real transparency look like? Why disclosure is rare, but revealing | Globe and Mail (Mar. 18, 2021)
Ontario let a ‘flood’ of temp agencies into long-term care during COVID-19. How precarious work put residents and caregivers at risk | Toronto Star (Mar. 18, 2021)
Amazon’s Brampton warehouse ordered to shutter after COVID-19 outbreak | Toronto Star (Mar. 12, 2021)
Quebec: Proposed reforms to on-the-job injuries a flagrant setback for workers: healthcare coalition | CTV News (Mar. 9, 2021)
MOL hires 100 new workplace inspectors | Daily Commercial News (Mar. 5, 2021)
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board workers vote to strike | Businesswire (Mar. 1, 2021)
Toronto names workplaces where a COVID-19 outbreak occurs. Peel Region doesn’t. Who’s right? | Toronto Star (Feb. 26, 2021)
BC: Friends and family still wait for criminal trial, 12 years after Sam Fitzpatrick died on the job | CBC News (Feb. 22, 2021)
Are unionized construction sites safer? A new study shows they are | Toronto Star (Feb. 20, 2021)
Four ways the WSIB is fighting COVID-19 | Canadian Occupational Safety (Feb. 18, 2021)
WSIB finances remain strong despite COVID-19: Witmer | Daily Commercial News (Feb. 16, 2021)
‘It’s just a flu’: COVID prevention rules are often ignored on Toronto construction sites, workers tell the Star | Toronto Star (Feb. 16, 2021)
One in five farms not compliant with COVID rules, early inspections find | London Free Press (Feb. 16, 2021)
Where do Ontario’s essential precarious workers – in transportation, food, manufacturing industries – stand in the vaccine rollout? | Toronto Star (Feb. 15, 2021)
Ontario nurse who contracted COVID-19 cut off workers’ compensation despite experiencing ‘ongoing symptoms’ | Press Progress (Feb. 11, 2021)
Go Public: Injured woman secretly videotaped by insurer (WSIB) then wrongly accused of fraud | CBC News (Feb. 8, 2021)
Editorial: A welcome move to shine a light on workplace outbreaks of COVID-19 | Toronto Star (Feb. 8, 2021)
Quebec urged to list burnout as ‘occupational disease’ in update to workplace safety laws | CBC News (Feb. 5, 2021)
Ontario proposes changes to workplace first aid requirements: would shift responsibility from WSIB to Ministry of Labour | Canadian HRReporter (Feb. 5, 2021)
1 in 4 COVID-19 cases found through contact tracing in Peel were those who went to work sick … | Toronto Star (Feb. 3, 2021)
Who is an essential worker in the GTA? Millions of us, data shows | Toronto Star (Feb. 2, 2021)
Air Canada flight attendant wins fight over COVID-19 workers’ compensation | CBC News (Jan. 30, 2021)
Sick pay and WSIB for workers who need them most | Niagara Falls Review (Jan. 30, 2021)
Experts push for more COVID-19 rapid tests at work | Globe and Mail (Jan. 29, 2021)
Ont. teenager’s death sign of pandemic ‘human rights catastrophe’ , newcomer advocates say | CTV News (Jan. 26, 2021)
Waterloo region paramedics denied WSIB claims for COVID-19: Union | CBC News (Jan. 22, 2021)
Québec: La réforme Boulet torpillée de toutes parts cette semaine | Le Devoir (jan. 21, 2021)
Ontario expands workplace inspections as 121 Canada Post workers test positive for COVID-19 in Mississauga | Toronto Star (Jan. 20, 2021)
Bittersweet victory for daughter who lobbied for dad’s health benefits | Sudbury Star (Jan. 19, 2021)
Quebec: Morneau Shepell submits recommendations on Bill 59 | Businesswire (January 13, 2021)
‘Union safety effect’ continues on Ontario’s ICI construction sites: IWH study finds | Daily Commercial News (Jan. 13, 2021)
What’s an essential workplace and who’s an essential worker? | Toronto Star (Jan. 12, 2021)
RCMP launch criminal investigation into COVID-19 death tied to massive Alberta meat plant outbreak | CBC News (Jan. 11, 2021)
Toronto is now publicizing workplace outbreaks. What does the data tell us… | Toronto Star (Jan. 11, 2021)
COVID-19 outbreaks in the workplace | TV Ontario (Jan. 8, 2021)
Toronto is now publicizing work outbreaks – what does the data tell us | Toronto Star (Jan. 6, 2021)
Eight orders issued to company after worker’s injury |Belleville Intelligencer (Jan. 2, 2021)