Canadian Safety Reporter

6 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CSR | June 2018 | News Car accident, not repetitive motion at work, shoulders blame for injury Worker claimed repeated reaching overhead aggravated shoulder condition, but evidence didn't prove underlying condition was worsened by job duties BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ONTARIO worker's shoulder condition was not caused or ag- gravated by repetitive reaching overhead at work and was more likely related to an earlier car ac- cident, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal has found in denying the worker entitlement to ben- efits. The 46-year-old worker was an admitting clerk in the emer- gency area of an Ontario hos- pital, handling paperwork for patient admissions, liaising with doctors, nurses, and patients, and managing health insurance data for patients. She was hired in 2000. In December 2013, the worker was in a motor vehicle accident and suffered injuries to her right side. The accident was unrelated to her job and the worker wasn't eligible for workers' compensa- tion benefits. About 10 months after the accident, in October 2014, the worker reported that she was experiencing gradual onset pain in her right shoulder that devel- oped from frequent reaching over her head at work for the past four years, which the worker said had increased in recent months. She sought medical treatment and was diagnosed with a re- petitive stress injury. The injury forced her to go on modified du- ties at the hospital that involved working three eight-hour shifts per week. A couple of months later the hospital carried out an er- gonomic assessment of the worker's work area. The worker reported that her work station it- self didn't present any problems for her physically and her shoul- der symptoms were only exacer- bated when she retrieved papers from the printer, which was on a shelf above the work station. She also said she didn't stand up to retrieve copies from the print- er because she had a right hip condition stemming from the December 2013 motor vehicle accident. The ergonomist noted that there were two worksta- tions — the shelf containing the printer was between the stations — and when the worker used the left workstation, she had to use her right arm to retrieve printed papers but when she was at the right workstation, she could use her left arm. The ergonomist recommended the printer be relocated to floor level so the worker wouldn't have to reach up and reduce the stress on her right shoulder. Worker went off work, had shoulder surgery The worker continued to per- form modified duties until Janu- ary 2015, when she had to go off work completely due to her shoulder pain. An MRI in July showed mild chronic tendini- tis of the right shoulder tendon and a tear in the fibres of another tendon in the area. The worker also had a bursal surface tear and a posterior labrum tear. The worker underwent sur- gery in late 2015 to repair her shoulder injuries. She applied for workers' compensation ben- efits for disablement from the injury from the time she had to start working part-time, modi- fied duties in October 2014. The Ontario Workplace Safe- ty and Insurance Board (WSIB) and a WSIB appeals resolution officer both denied the work- er's claim, finding there was no causal relationship between the worker's duties and the tears in her right shoulder. The worker appealed the decision to the tri- bunal. In June 2017, the worker was assessed at Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and was diagnosed with tendinosis, tendon tears, and joint arthritis. The doctor also reported rotator cuff syn- drome that was likely related to the motor vehicle accident but also aggravated by the worker's Worker used two different work stations and the arm she used to reach up varied depending on the station. Sedentary > pg. 7 Credit: Shutterstock/upixa

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