Canadian Safety Reporter - sample

3 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 News | September 2018 | CSR Partial permanent impairment not a recurrence of injury Worker claimed additional entitlement after taking time off from new job due to knee problems, but he already had received an award for partial impairment BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ONTARIO worker who had ongoing problems with his knee after a workplace accident that limited his abilities in a new job didn't suffer a recurrence of the injury that deserved new entitle- ment, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal has ruled. The 54-year-old worker started employment as an arbor- ist — a professional involved in the cultivation and management of trees and shrubs — in 1994. Early on in his employment, on June 28, 1994, the worker was involved in an accident while on the job — he was harnessed to a tree when an upper limb of the tree gave way and struck his left leg, while a rope tightened around his leg that had to be cut to release him. The worker was taken to hospital, where it was determined he had broken his left tibia and fibula. He under- went surgery to his left shin and leg the next day and hardware was inserted into his leg. The worker had no previous injuries to his left leg, though he had injured his right knee before, from which he had fully recovered. During the worker's recov- ery, his employer determined that it wouldn't be able to pro- vide suitable modified work for him when he was able to work again. As a result, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insur- ance Board (WSIB) referred the worker for vocational rehabili- tation services to help him find suitable alternate employment while granting him initial en- titlement for the broken bones. In September 1995, the reha- bilitation services determined that he should train for the oc- cupation of assembler. The po- tential earnings for the position of assembler were less than the worker's old job of arborist, so the WSIB granted him a future economic loss award to make up for the discrepancy. Around the same time, a medical assessment determined that the worker had a permanent impairment be- cause of "left lower leg standard restrictions." However, the worker didn't feel capable of returning to work yet, so his vocational rehabilita- tion plan was closed in Decem- ber 1995. He remained off work through the following two years. In November 1997, the WSIB referred the worker to labour market re-entry services, which developed a new occupational objective of certified network engineer, with a retraining pro- gram to begin in January 1998. However, the worker was un- able to progress in the retrain- ing program, so it was closed in April 1998. Five months later, the WSIB granted the worker a nine-per-cent non-economic loss award for a partial disabil- ity in his left knee, which hadn't been able to completely recover from his injury. Unsuccessful retraining The worker attended some re- training and tried to return to work as a tree cutter, but was unable to do the work. He then found a job as a truck driver in 1998. He was able to continue working as a truck driver, but he could only work for so long be- fore his left knee started swelling, which then limited his ability to perform his duties as he couldn't press the truck's clutch when his knee was bothering him. As a result, he switched employers several times and couldn't work over a full year before needing to Degenerative > pg. 7 Credit: Shutterstock/manatman

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