Safety Reporter
Canadian
www.safetyreporter.com
August 2016
INJURED WORKER GETS BENEFITS
FOR CHRONIC PAIN
Medical evidence showed chronic pain
disorder with psychological elements
arose out of work-related injury pg. 5
ANGRY WORKER STORMS HIS WAY
OUT OF A JOB pg. 3
Worker's tirade against managers
raised workplace violence concerns
WORKER'S CLAIM FOR
ABSENCE DUE TO INJURY
RECURRENCE REJECTED
Pain was from recurrence of injury,
but wasn't enough to prevent
him from working
pg. 6
INSIDE
Improving bus driver safety
Challenges, measures and strategies for reducing the risk of assaults on transit operators
BY MELISSA CAMPEAU
ACCORDING TO THE Cana-
dian Urban Transit Association,
2,000 transit workers are assault-
ed every year in this country.
This past spring the issue came
to something of a head, as four
Kelowna, B.C., transit drivers
were assaulted, in separate inci-
dents, on the same day.
Less than a month later, in a
show of solidarity, transit drivers
from across the country gath-
ered in Kelowna and called for
measures to help them stay safe
on the job. The march attracted
national media attention and
turned a spotlight on the issue.
"These assaults are just sense-
less incidents," says Paul Thorp,
national president of Amalgam-
ated Transit Union (ATU) Cana-
da. "Every day we get reports of
assaults from right across Can-
Breast cancer in lab techs
work-related: S.C.C
Expert evidence found no definitive
causation but couldn't rule it out either
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
THE SUPREME COURT of Canada has ruled that breast cancer in
three British Columbia workers who worked in a medical lab should
be considered an occupational disease entitling them to workers'
compensation, overturning a lower court decision and reinstating
a tribunal decision.
Katrina Hammer, Patricia Schmidt, and Anne MacFarlane, all
NEWS BRIEF
FREE ONLINE RESOURCE
FOR MENTAL HEALTH
ACCOMMODATION
TORONTO — Think Outside the
Box is a one-of-a-kind, free online
resource designed to help employ-
ers, businesses, HR professionals,
landlords, the service industry, and
anyone else looking to learn more
about mental health accessibility
and disability accommodation.
Created by Canadian Mental
Health Association (CMHA), Ontar-
io, Think Outside the Box offers real-
life stories of individuals living with
a mental health disability and how
schools, employers and govern-
ment have accommodated them.
The resource also offers tips
that can positively impact both the
person with the disability and the
organization that employs them.
"When we think about disabili-
ties, we often only think about vis-
ible physical disabilities. People
are familiar with the importance
of ramps and wider doorways but
they may not know where to start
when it comes to accommodat-
ing a person living with a mental
health disability. This resource will
help tremendously," said Camille
Quenneville, CEO of CMHA Ontario.
People living with mental health
disabilities are protected under
the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Assault > pg. 4
Credit:
Shutterstock/rmnoa357
Medical > pg. 2
