Canadian Safety Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 News | January 2018 | CSR thritis and its medication could cause the fibrosis. Based on this opinion, the tribunal denied Goik's claim, saying it accepted that Goik had silicosis that was causally related to his employ- ment, but the double-lung transplant wasn't necessitated by the silicosis. Goik appealed to the B.C. Supreme Court, ar- guing that it was unreasonable to conclude he wasn't claiming entitlement for silicosis and to deny him after accepting the sili- cosis was causally related to his employment. The court noted that the B.C. Workers' Compensation Act defines silicosis as "a fibrotic condition of the lungs caused by the inhalation of silica dust." The act also specifies that work- ers are entitled to compensation only if the worker was free from tuberculosis and other similar ailments before the workplace exposure, and workers who are exposed to silica dust at work and develop silicosis are pre- sumed to have had it caused by the nature of their employment. Denial of claim unreasonable: Court The court found there "is no evidence that can rationally sup- port the conclusion that (Goik) was not seeking to have his claim accepted for silicosis," as the tri- bunal had determined. Goik had appealed to the tribunal with the statement that "silicosis is compensable" and indicated he was appealing the WCB review division's denial of his silicosis as an occupational disease. In addition, the review division's decision indicated that the main issue was whether Goik's sili- cosis developed from his occu- pational exposure to silica dust and his bilateral lung transplants were not the result of silicosis. The tribunal's denial of Goik's appeal seemed to overlook this statement, said the court. As a result, the tribunal — though it found Goik had sili- cosis that was related to his oc- cupational exposure to silica dust — failed to address whether Goik was entitled to workers' compensation for his silico- sis, inexplicably adhering to an analysis of whether he deserved entitlement for his double lung transplant. "The review decision found that the lung disease was not a result of silicosis," the court said. "Notwithstanding that the (tribunal's) decision confirmed the review decision, (the tribu- nal) accepted that (Goik) had silicosis and that it was caus- ally related to employment. The (tribunal's) decision is internally inconsistent and the decision is not rational." The court determined the Workers' Compensation Tribu- nal didn't reasonably adjudicate Goik's appeal when it decided not to examine the disease itself and whether it was com- pensable. It set aside the tribu- nal's decision and remitted it back to the tribunal for redeter- mination. For more information see: • Goik v. Workers' Compensation Tribunal Appeal Tribunal, 2017 CarswellBC 2705 (B.C. S.C.). Worker seeking compensation for disease, not surgery Denial < pg. 5 Every two weeks Canadian HR Reporter hits the desks of HR management decision-makers across Canada. Human resources professionals are under pressure to drive performance, increase productivity and streamline processes. By providing real-world solutions to perplexing HR situations, we give you the tools and information to make more calculated decisions. Professional advice on the latest trends and insights for HR representatives help to sustain business, simplify hiring processes, and ensure budgets are met. STAY CURRENT. GET AHEAD. STAY AHEAD. To order your subscription call 1.800.387.5164 | 416.609.3800 www.hrreporter.com/subscribe PM40065782 RO9496 September 5, 2016 INSIDE FIGHTING FRAUD Insurance fraud prevention requires a joint approach between plan sponsors and insurers CCHRA partners up Agreements with SHRM, CERC formalize relationships page 2 Pink hair Starbucks' relaxed dress code part of growing trend page 3 Mental health More integrated approach needed to help people page 13 page 15 ENFORCEMENT > pg. 8 Pokemon GO presents challenges for employers But risks can be managed eff ectively: Experts BY LIZ BERNIER POKEMON GO, the mobile game that's sweeping smartphones of the nation, has seen a meteoric rise in popularity. And just as the game has blurred boundaries be- tween public and private space, it has also blurred boundaries be- tween work and play. Many employees are taking the mobile game — among oth- ers — to work with them, and that has the potential to create issues for employers, according to Erin Kuzz, founding member of law fi rm Sherrard Kuzz in Toronto. Chief among the risks are safety and security concerns, and pro- ductivity challenges, he said. "When I turn my mind to the workplace issues that are raised by Pokemon Go and some of these related apps and games, two things are particularly glaring," said Kuzz. "Number one is the security is- sues where people are download- ing any kind of app or external game onto their phone, and that could be a phone that is used for work purposes — whether it's an employer-owned device or a BYOD (bring-your-own device) that's been approved for use in the workplace — it creates security issues." With Pokemon Go, there are counterfeit or non-genuine ver- sions that have been found to con- tain malware, she said. "When you have employees po- tentially exposing the employer's system to malware… it's an issue," she said. "Employers have to think about how they want to tackle this very quickly. "My advice would be to prohibit use of anything like that on a work device — because you just can't control what happens if someone downloads malware." Many of the risks are around cyber security, said Leah Fochuk, consulting services manager at HR consulting fi rm Salopek & Associ- ates in Calgary. "Because you sign up through Google, the app is really capturing a lot of sensitive data," she said. Companies that use BYOD of- ten deal in sensitive or confi dential information and defi nitely need to be aware of those risks. "Even when you're downloading it, if people are downloading the app not from offi cial vendors, the risk of introducing malware could potentially aff ect your entire net- work," said Fochuk. "On the IT side, there are some pretty big risks that would need to be managed." Also, there are potential safety hazards when it comes to distrac- tion or trespassing. "Players are practising distract- ed walking: eir heads are down, they're not necessarily seeing where they're going," said Fochuk. "As a company, you would hate to have something happen on your Ontario looking to make changes to labour laws Card-based certifi cation, precarious work, better enforcement among concerns BY JOHN DUJAY IN a massive undertaking, the On- tario government is looking to up- date not one but two labour laws with its Changing Workplaces Review. First proposed in 2015, the re- view would see the province's 1995 Labour Relations Act and 2000 Em- ployment Standards Act updated. "It's important our laws refl ect the realities of the modern econ- omy, and that's why we're consult- ing with people in communities across the province and reviewing our legislation," said Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn. Led by lawyer Michael Mitchell and former justice of the Ontario Superior Court John Murray, the review received more than 300 written submissions and met with various labour and employer groups. e co-chairs released an interim report in July. e 312-page report touches on a variety of issues relevant to em- ployers and labour groups. e Ontario Federation of La- bour (OFL) has been waiting quite some time for the changes, said OFL president Chris Buckley. "It's a springboard for a once-in- a-generation opportunity to bring sweeping changes to Ontario's employment laws and to make it fair for every worker across the province." If the exercise was to poke at as many of the issues as possible, it's achieved that goal, said labour and employment lawyer Craig Rix at Hicks Morley in Toronto. "What I see mostly in the re- port is a longstanding list of like- to-have proposals that have largely come from organized labour." Slap on the wrist for TTC's social media account Greater care needed: Arbitrator BY SARAH DOBSON THE Toronto Transit Commis- sion (TTC) found itself in hot water recently when an arbitrator ruled one of its Twitter accounts contributed to the harassment of employees and needed to be changed — but not shut down. In his decision, arbitrator Rob- ert Howe said social media sites operated by the TTC could be considered to constitute part of the workplace. And a number of the tweets on @TTChelps consti- tute harassment. "It is clear from the totality of the evidence that the TTC has failed to take all reasonable and practical measures to protect bar- gaining unit employees from that type of harassment by members of FIXED > pg. 6 INAPPROPRIATE > pg. 10 Pavlo Farmakidis (left), recruitment co-ordinator at Woodbine Entertainment Group in Toronto, and Mark Diker, senior manager of recruitment and talent planning, ran a job fair using Pokemon Go that attracted about 500 candidates. See page 18. Subscribe Today! CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-387-5164 ONLINE AT www.employmentlawtoday.com/subscribe Emplo y ment Law Today Canad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com Subscribe today for only $175 Order No. 20610-17 e WCB review division indicated the main issue was whether the silicosis developed from occupational exposure to silica dust

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