Manitoba lagging on workers’ compensation

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/04/2023 (897 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ALL workers deserve to make it home safely to their loved ones at the end of every shift. That is why the labour movement has always stood up for stronger health and safety protections on the job.

But despite of the gains Manitoba has made on workplace health and safety, far too many Manitobans are still injured and killed at work every year. In 2022 alone, 22 Manitobans were killed by workplace injuries and illness.

Today is the National Day of Mourning, when we take time to remember friends, loved ones and colleagues killed by workplace hazards injuries, and recommit to doing everything we can to prevent similar situations in the future.

Even though we often think of workplace injuries and deaths as resulting from one specific event or acute hazard, over half of Manitoba workplace deaths in the last year were from occupational diseases that workers acquired more gradually through exposure to carcinogens and other harmful agents at work. In fact, over the past decade occupational diseases account for the majority of all work-related fatalities in Manitoba.

As disturbing as the numbers are, we also know they tell only part of the story. It is well known that occupational diseases are systematically under-recognized and under-reported. There are a number of reasons for this, including the time lapse between workplace exposure and onset of illness, which can make it difficult to prove clear causation.

One result is that workers suffering from occupational diseases often face the additional burden of trying to prove that their illness is work-related in order to qualify for workers compensation benefits. In addition, the lack of recognition means that countless workers go on being exposed to these deadly hazards.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We know that specific materials and chemicals in working environments are causally linked to specific diseases. This includes poisoning caused by certain metals, respiratory illnesses caused by various types of dust, and cancers caused by solar and other forms of radiation, to name just a few.

Many other jurisdictions, including British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia have long recognized this and have put in place a “schedule of presumptive diseases” as part of their workers compensation systems. This means that when a worker has been employed in a process and suffers a disease listed in the schedule, it is presumed their work caused the disease unless it can be shown otherwise. Unfortunately, the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba has not created a similar type of schedule, meaning that workers are falling through the cracks.

That Manitoba lags so far behind in this regard is especially frustrating given that specific provisions to create such a schedule have been part of our Workers Compensation Act for some time.

Several years ago, the WCB legislative review committee (made up of employer, worker and public interest representatives) made a joint recommendation that that the WCB create such a schedule. In 2021, the provincial government answered the call and passed legislation to pave the way for the WCB to create a schedule of presumptive diseases.

Unfortunately, in the two years since, no tangible progress has been made by the WCB. Meanwhile, workers with occupational disease continue to struggle for recognition that their illness is work-related, while many others may not even know there is a causal connection between their illness and their work.

Our workers compensation system was created over 100 years ago, at a time when the extent of our society’s knowledge of occupational diseases was far less than it is now. As the science regarding occupational diseases grows, the WCB system needs to continue to adapt to ensure that all workers who are hurt or die on the job receive the benefits they are entitled to, whether these injuries and deaths are related to specific workplace events or the exposure to hazards over a career.

On this National Day of Mourning, the WCB owes it to the workers who died last year and in previous years from occupational diseases to finally establish that schedule of presumptive diseases so that workers and their families receive the support that they deserve.

Kevin Rebeck is the president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour.