HLTH1015 Occupational Health and Safety: Assignment 4 (WSIB – Real Life) 2011

Page 1 of 2

Student: Kimberly Znebel

“Worker’s Compensation was created to offer a simple non-litigious medium to compensate workers for injuries

arising out of & in the course of employment. (2000, Gravelle – part 1) The underlying primary principles are:

Wage loss protection for all workers, Collective liability for employers, Compensation is based on loss of earnings, No-fault,

Non-adversarial process (no recourse in litigious system).

These principles are both practices and ideals. Because the system is entirely funded by business, fair and

ethical practices are not always followed or easily enforced. Overtime improvements are consistently being

made, largely through the “second generation” method where after significant harm is caused changes are

implemented to prevent future problems. It is not a perfect system but a major benefit when compared to not

having a formal method focused on sustaining health and safety initiatives for the protection of all employees in

Ontario and by association the firms they work for. When employers and employees operate in good faith,

WSIB can be considered one on the original sustainable organizations all well run firms are now striving to

achieve.

The WSIB claims process is a systematic set of schemes. “The thrust of the WSIB system is to create injury and

illness free workplaces in Ontario. However, when an unwelcome event should arise, there is a system in place

that will ease the financial burden of both the employer and the employee while providing other kinds of support.”

(2000, Gravelle – part 2) But it may be important to keep in mind that the schemes are complicated and both the

employer and employee benefit equally from being well informed and acting ethically. A misguided employer

can cause unreasonable hardship for the injured employee that may have an eventual ripple effect across the

board as we have seen in the case of Nova Scotia (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Martin, Nova Scotia

(Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Lauer. This case presents the most compelling and ethically based decision

regarding differential treatment of injured workers suffering from chronic pain and potential permanent disability.

(2003, October)

While reporting fraudulent claims is straight forward for the employer the employee generally is required to take

more extreme actions in the event of unethical and unfair practices. This fact also has to be acknowledged and

the widespread negative assumptions held by many of the key stakeholders of this process need to be

addressed if we want to truly improve the circumstances of the disadvantaged and maintain a credible system

that can remain true to its primary principles.

Work Well program developed in 1989 is a form another form of self-regulation intended to motivate firms that

have a higher than average rate of accidents and injuries to become more proactive. The primary motivator,

however, is to relieve the unfair burden on the rate group resulting in higher premiums for their industry. But the

real benefit is another of level improvement within the WSIB system “fostering preventative and sustaining health

and safety initiatives for the protection of all employees in Ontario.” (2000, Gravelle – part 3) While WSIB may

never be perfect there is always assurance in the fact the continued efforts to improve are also a part of this

system.

HLTH1015 Occupational Health and Safety: Assignment 4 (WSIB – Real Life) 2011

Page 2 of 2

Student: Kimberly Znebel

References

Gravelle, Denis (2000, September), Occupational Health & Safety WSIB (part one) Session 8, Retrieved July28,

2011 from HLTH1015 power point presentation.

Gravelle, Denis (2000, September), Occupational Health & Safety WSIB (part two) Session 9, Retrieved July28,

2011 from HLTH1015 power point presentation.

Gravelle, Denis (2000, September), Occupational Health & Safety WSIB (part three) Session 10, Retrieved

July28, 2011 from HLTH1015 power point presentation.

Supreme Court of Canada (2003, October). Citation:Nova Scotia (Workers' Compensation Board) v. Martin;

Nova Scotia (Workers' Compensation Board) v. Laseur, 2003 SCC 54, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 504. Retrieved

July 10, 2011 from http://scc.lexum.org/en/2003/2003scc54/2003scc54.html.