IWRAP

What’s New: September 2024

After a long summer break, there is new material on the IWRAP website in these areas: 

• New Blog 
  •  A new blog “The Election and Compensation: What Does It Mean for Injured Workers?” by Rolf Harrison is in the “Compensation Café”, with an introduction by Janet Patterson.
• New OD case from WCAT
  • New WCAT case: A worker’s claim for pulmonary Sarcoidosis was accepted in WCAT A2301611 (September 3, 2024). The worker’s sarcoid condition was accepted via “Recognition by Order with a Specific Case”, a legal avenue for recognizing “unique, meritous, individual disease claims” where the facts warrant a recognition of the worker’s condition as an occupational disease, but the condition itself is not a recognized OD [Policy #4-25.10]. There is a discussion of this case and the causation standard for OD’s in this area, in the “Occupational Disease” section, Member’s Portal.
• New Resources on Chronic Pain
  • Note re: the current CP Policy Review (September 2024): The Policy, Regulation and Research Division (PRRD) has been reviewing the WCB’s Chronic Pain policy for over 5 years and recently proposed a few amendments. In response, worker advocates collectively asked for additional proposals to address the key issues raised in expert reports and Union submissions. The Board of Directors (BOD) has now asked the PRRD to submit a new workplan to meet these objectives Key Union submissions are set out below. 
  • New Resources and Submissions on Chronic Pain may be found in the “Chronic Pain” section, Members Portal:
    • Compensating Chronic Pain: A Primer (7 pages) – a summary of the current policies, the new science of chronic pain, the WCB’s policy review process, and tips for advocates (September 2024)
    • A Brief History of Chronic Pain Policy in B.C. 2002-2024 (3 pages) 
  • In the “Unions and WCB” section are two submissions with helpful research and resources:
    • B.C. Fed Submission to the WCB with respect to proposed amendments to the Chronic Pain Policies: #C-22.20 and #C6-39.10 [October 2023]
    • Submission from the B.C. Nurses Union re: proposed amendments to Chronic Pain policies [October 2023] 

• New Resources on ASTDS (from the policy review process)
  • Note re the current ASTD Policy Review (September 2024) 
  • This Spring, the PPRD began reviewing the Activity Related Soft Tissue Disorders or ASTDs policies [#4-27.00 section of the RSCM II]. Currently, these policies restrict an assessment of “work causation”, with the result that the acceptance rate for these common injuries is much lower than for other injuries. There is also a pronounced gender disparity in accepted claims. These concerns were forcefully raised by Unions in the review which is still ongoing.
  • New Resources and Submissions on ASTDs may be found
  • In the “Repetitive Strain Injuries” section, Member Portal:
    •  A summary (2 pages) ASTDs- A Short Overview & Updates – September 2024. The summary sets out key issues and current research and resources, including those from other jurisdictions. 
  • In the public “Unions and WCB section, Union submissions and ergonomic reports which set out important policy critiques for ASTD claims:
    • Two reports by Dr. Dan Robinson, an eminent ergonomist. These reports critique the WCB’s current and proposed ASTD policies from the point of view of current ergonomic research and best practices. Both of Dr. Robinson’s reports were requested by Jim Parker as part of the ASTD review. 
    • A joint submission by the BC Federation of Labour and Janet Patterson compares how other jurisdictions approach soft tissue injuries with the B.C. ASTD policies (current and proposed) and discusses the importance of Dr. Robinson’s reports. 
    • An Overview submission summarizes the recommendations made by many individual unions in their submissions about how the ASTD policies have impacted their memberships. The Overview submission was prepared by Jim Parker and approved by WCAG.
    • Submission by Jim Parker on behalf of the B.C. Nurses Union. It critiques the Board’s ASTD policy and practices in light of both Dr. Robinson’s reports and the recommendations of past reviewers. 
• New Resources on Claims Suppression
  • in the “Claims Suppression” section, Member Portal there is a handout “How to Address Claims Suppression in WorkSafe (WCB) Claims 2024”. The 14 page handout was prepared by Tom McKenna, the CUPE Health and Safety Representative . 

• New Resources on Opioid Crisis and RTW
  • In the public Resources/Featured Research section is the article “How workers’ comp fanned the flames of the opioid crisis” by Kathy Tomlinson, published in the Globe & Mail, June 18, 2020.

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