Return to Work – What is Needed for “Success” for Workers?

Returning to work after an injury is difficult at the best of times.  Workers report that WorkSafeBC’s “Return to Work” (RTW) practices often fail, and sometimes even endanger them. Some employers complain that the Board’s “hands off” approach doesn’t help them either.  So why does the Board pursue a RTW path that is problematic and…

What the heck is going on with WCB Pensions?

Written by: Sarah O’Leary, WELLS Director In the summer of 2020, the NDP government introduced a number of changes to the Workers’ Compensation Act (The Act). One of those changes was to make it easier for people to have their Workers’ Compensation pensions extended beyond age 65 if they would, in fact, have worked past age…

Occupational diseases and asbestos – what do we know?

Occupational Diseases (OD) are the most deadly of work injuries, but they receive little public attention.  Catastrophic workplace tragedies receive, and of course deserve, a great deal of media attention. There was intense coverage of the mill explosions at the Babine and Lakeland, the crane collapse in Kelowna and the tug boat sinking off Prince…

Psychologically fragile workers and vocational rehabilitation

The following blog is contributed by Sarah O’Leary, a lawyer with a long history of advocacy for injured workers. Sarah has always had a particular concern for those with psychological injuries. Her blog today focuses on some current experiences and issues facing psychologically fragile workers when they reach plateau.  When a firefighter can’t go back…

The Death of Sam Fitzpatrick

Today’s blog includes an excerpt from an excellent editorial by Tom Sandborn about the death of Sam Fitzpatrick, a young worker who was killed while scaling rock in Toba Inlet in 2009. Tom Sandborn has been reporting on the Fitzpatrick case and the company involved, Peter Kiewit Sons ULC (“Kiewit”), for years. This excerpt includes his…

Claim suppression – no more

“Claim suppression” involves any practice which discourages or prevents a worker from filing or pursuing a compensation claim for a work injury. In B.C., the Workers Compensation Act offers no protection to workers who may be disciplined or fired for filing a compensation claim. This is a deep concern for workers injured on the job, especially if they…

The Ombudsperson speaks out on WorkSafeBC

The Ombudsperson of B.C., Jay Chalke, has just issued an important report, “Severed Trust:  Enabling WorkSafeBC to do the right thing when its mistakes hurt injured workers.” The report focuses on the tragic case of a cabinet-maker, Mr. Snider.  Today, this blog belongs to Mr. Snider, the Ombudperson’s report and the issue of WorkSafe’s accountability to injured…

Dignity and fairness – a human rights approach to injured workers

In 2006, the United Nations published the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is not a sleeper U.N. Convention. Canada, as part of its commitment to the Convention, passed the Accessible Canada Act in June, 2019 and a few months ago, the B.C. government passed provincial Accessibility legislation.  The B.C. law will be implemented…

The disability experience – whose life is it?

From most accounts, disabled people have made significant strides towards equality and inclusion.  There is a line of improvement for “Persons with Disability”(PWD), from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006 to “disabled rights” legislation in Canada in 2019. There is even a growing academic field of “disability studies” which explores…