CSR | October 2018 | News
No guarantee nurse wouldn't encounter bleach somewhere
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been used in the "appropriate
amount of hours."
• Annual training on the policy
for housekeeping staff in the
unit.
However, the worker didn't
accept the offer of employment
under these conditions, as she
felt the respirator mask inter-
fered with her ability to work be-
cause it made it difficult to speak
to patients, staff, and families.
Since she was sometimes called
to other areas of the hospital to
deal with cardiac arrests, it was
impossible to avoid areas where
bleach was used unless it was
completely banned from the
hospital, she said.
The worker's employment
was terminated on Dec. 15. The
WSIB then ended her benefits on
the basis that the hospital had of-
fered her suitable employment to
fit with her medical restrictions at
no wage loss and she refused.
The worker eventually found
a new job at another hospital
on Jan. 6, 2014, that used an al-
ternative to bleach for cleaning.
However, she continued to expe-
rience respiratory issues which
she believed were related to her
initial exposure to bleach.
The worker contested the
WSIB's determination that she
had refused suitable modified
duties and requested loss of
earnings benefits from Dec. 15,
2012, to the date of her new job
on Jan. 6, 2014.
The tribunal agreed with
the worker that the return-to-
work conditions would have
meant the worker would have
had to wear the respirator mask
through the majority of her 12-
hour shifts at the hospital, as it
was never determined what "the
appropriate amount of hours"
after bleach was used was for the
worker to remove the mask. This
wasn't practical when she had to
talk to patients, their families,
and hospital staff over the course
of the worker's shift. In addition,
the fact she would have to wear
the mask meant there was no
guarantee there would not be ac-
cidental or unscheduled use of
bleach somewhere in the hospi-
tal, said the tribunal.
The tribunal noted that the re-
port from the occupational dis-
ease specialty program and the
worker's doctor recommended
that the only way to guarantee
no exposure was for the hospi-
tal to use alternatives to bleach.
The hospital opted not to go this
route.
In addition, when the worker
found new employment at an-
other hospital, she was able to
perform similar duties to what
she had been performing before
with the accommodation of us-
ing an alternative to bleach for
cleaning in the workplace.
The tribunal determined that
the modified duties offered to
the worker were unsuitable, so
the worker's loss of earnings
from her Dec. 15, 2012, termi-
nation from her original em-
ployer to the start of her new
job on Jan. 6, 2014, were "re-
lated to the accident employer's
inability to provide her with
suitably modified duties." As a
result, the worker's appeal was
allowed and she was entitled
to loss of earnings benefits for
the 13-month period when she
didn't work.
For more information see:
• Decision No. 3442/17, 2017
CarswellOnt 19879 (Ont.
Workplace Safety and
Insurance Appeals Trib.).
Mask requirement < pg. 5
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Worker believed ongoing respiratory issues
were related to her initial exposure to bleach
