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2, Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment A...
Bill 2, Workplace Safety
and Insurance Amendment Act (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), 2014
Current
Status: First Reading Carried
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Original (current version) pdf
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Bill
2 2014
An Act to
amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 with respect to
post-traumatic stress disorder
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative
Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 is
amended by adding the following sections:
Presumption re: emergency response workers, etc.
Definitions
15.3 (1) In this section,
“emergency response worker” means a firefighter, police officer or
paramedic; (“intervenant d’urgence”)
“firefighter” has the same meaning as in subsection 1 (1) of the Fire
Protection and Prevention Act, 1997; (“pompier”)
“paramedic” has the same meaning as in subsection 1 (1) of the Ambulance
Act; (“auxiliaire médical”)
“police officer” has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Police
Services Act; (“agent de police”)
“post-traumatic stress disorder” means an anxiety disorder that develops
after exposure to a traumatic event or experience with symptoms that may
include flashbacks, nightmares and intense feelings of fear or horror.
(“trouble de stress post-traumatique”)
Presumption re: post-traumatic stress disorder
(2) If an emergency response worker suffers from
post-traumatic stress disorder, the disorder is presumed to be an occupational
disease that occurs due to the nature of the worker’s employment as an
emergency response worker, unless the contrary is shown.
Time of diagnosis
(3) The presumption in subsection (2) applies
only to post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed on or after the day the Workplace
Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), 2014
receives Royal Assent.
Conditions and restrictions
(4) The presumption in subsection (2) is subject
to any conditions and restrictions prescribed under clause (5) (a).
Regulations
(5) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make
regulations,
(a) prescribing conditions and restrictions relating to the
presumption established by subsection (2), including, but not limited to, conditions
and restrictions related to nature of employment, length of employment, time
during which the worker was employed or age of the worker;
(b) providing for such transitional matters as the
Lieutenant Governor in Council considers necessary or advisable in relation to
this section and the regulations under this section.
Claims based on presumption
15.4 (1) This section applies
where the presumption established under section 15.3 applies to the
post-traumatic stress disorder with which a worker is diagnosed.
New claims
(2) If the worker or his or her survivor never
filed a claim in respect of the disorder, the worker or his or her survivor may
file a claim with the Board, and the Board shall decide the claim in accordance
with section 15.3 and the regulations under it, as that section and those
regulations read at the time the Board makes its decision.
Refiled claim
(3) Subject to subsection (4), if the worker or
his or her survivor filed a claim in respect of the disorder and the claim was
denied by the Board or by the Appeals Tribunal, the worker or his or her
survivor may refile the claim with the Board and the Board shall decide the
claim in accordance with section 15.3 and the regulations under it, as that
section and those regulations read at the time the Board makes its
decision.
Time limits do not apply
(4) The time limits set out in subsections 22
(1) and (2) do not apply in respect of a claim that is refiled under subsection
(3).
Pending appeal
(5) If a claim is pending before the Appeals
Tribunal, the Appeals Tribunal shall refer the claim back to the Board, and the
Board shall decide the claim in accordance with section 15.3 and the
regulations under it, as that section and those regulations read at the time
the Board makes its decision.
Pending claim
(6) If a claim is pending before the Board, the
Board shall decide the claim in accordance with section 15.3 and the
regulations under it, as that section and those regulations read at the time
the Board makes its decision.
Commencement
2. This Act comes into force on the day it
receives Royal Assent.
Short title
3. The short title of this Act is the Workplace
Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), 2014.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 is amended to create a
rebuttable presumption relating to post-traumatic stress disorder affecting
emergency response workers.
Subsection 15.3 (1) defines emergency response worker to mean a
firefighter, paramedic or police officer.
Subsection 15.3 (2) states that if an emergency response worker suffers
from post-traumatic stress disorder, the disorder is presumed to be an
occupational disease that occurred due to the employment as an emergency
response worker, unless the contrary is shown.
The Bill sets out procedural and transitional rules governing claims to
which a presumption applies.
Cheri DiNovo tables bill to help police and others with PTSD
Published
on Monday October 08, 2012
NDP MPP
Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale-High Park) has tabled a private member's bill to help
police and other front-line responders suffering from work-related PTSD.
Curtis
Rush
Police Reporter
Police Reporter
Related Articles
New
Democrat MPP Cheri DiNovo has tabled a bill that would fast-track benefit
claims for police and other front-line responders with post-traumatic stress disorder arising out of work.
On
Wednesday, DiNovo (MPP-Parkdale-High Park) will
hold a news conference with key stakeholders to announce her private member’s
bill to amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
The bill
was tabled late last week.
More: Police officers open up about secret work stresses
More: Police officers open up about secret work stresses
If
passed, the “presumptive” legislation would mean that it would be presumed that
front-line responders suffering from PTSD acquired the illness on the job.
PTSD
claims now are decided on a case-by-case basis, and appeals can take years to
settle.
DiNovo’s
proposed legislation is similar to an Ontario law passed in 2007 affecting
firefighters who develop any of eight types of cancer or have a heart attack
within 24 hours of battling a fire.
Prior to
the change, the onus was on firefighters to prove they got sick on the job in
order to get compensation from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).
Jim
Christie, head of the Ontario Provincial Police Association, said his group
supports DiNovo’s bill because police employers currently “drag out the process.”
“Why
would you not want any employee, if they’re suffering from an illness, to be
diagnosed, be treated and get back to work?”
DiNovo
has tried to get this amendment passed in 2008 and 2010, but her bill did not
get to second reading.
However,
with a minority Liberal government and more public understanding of PTSD,
DiNovo believes her bill has a better chance this time.
“It’s one
of those important issues we have to keep pounding on until it happens,” she
said. “These are critical battles for the people affected.”
The news
conference follows a Star
investigation this
past weekend into complaints to Ontario ombudsman André Marin by former and
current Ontario Provincial Police officers about how the force deals with PTSD.
Marin’s
report is expected to be released publicly in the next few weeks.
Post-traumatic
stress disorder can emerge after exposure to a traumatic event or series of
events, and may include paranoia, nightmares, rage, flashbacks and panic
attacks.
Andy
Emmink, a
lawyer who handles many police WSIB claims, said officers can now be forced at
hearings to reconstruct the policing experiences that led to their PTSD.
“It’s
difficult to get an incident number for an event that happened back in the
1980s,” Emmink said. “Often the WSIB will say, ‘We can’t corroborate any of
this, so your claim is denied.’ ”
In trying
to reconstruct their traumatic history, some officers relive the horror and
suffer total relapse.
Since
DiNovo last presented the presumptive legislation, police leaders have
expressed concerns, predicting a “financial tsunami” for cities and staffing
problems for police if presumptive legislation is passed.
DiNovo
discounts that reasoning.
“This
doesn’t mean there is going to be a run on the bank,” she said, adding that
society will be paying in social assistance if these front-line workers aren’t
treated and treated quickly.
She
called for “dignity” for these workers and not making them “grovel” for
benefits.
Financially,
the WSIB is staggering under the weight of an unfunded liability of $13.74
billion, which has grown from $9 billion in 2007.
The WSIB
is financed through premiums charged on the insurable payrolls of employers.
Unless it
addresses this liability, the WSIB may be unable to meet its existing and
future financial commitments to provide workers benefits, Ontario Auditor
General Jim McCarter has warned.
Unfunded
liability is the difference between the assets currently available to make
future payments on claims that are already in the system and an estimate of the
WSIB’s financial obligation to make future payments as they become due.
This
unfunded liability is driven by rising claims and health-care costs that
outpaced premium revenues, the WSIB says.
In the
eye of the storm is WSIB president and CEO David Marshall, who was hired in
2009 in part to eliminate this unfunded liability, and the WSIB thought this
could be done by 2014.
Marshall
receives a bonus of up to 20 per cent on his $400,000 salary to reduce claims,
and his critics say this bonus is being paid on the backs of workers.
Meanwhile,
much work behind the scenes is being done on post-traumatic stress involving
the WSIB.
Last
month, the labour ministry announced it is launching a roundtable with police
as key stakeholders to identify and share best practices for dealing with
post-traumatic stress in the workplace.
The
Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is calling for more discussion to come
up with an appropriate diagnostic tool to identify PTSD in police personnel.
“We’re
not resisting,” said association executive director Ron Bain, adding that
“spin” from some corners suggest that police leaders have been insensitive on
the issue.
“I think
that’s a bit unfair,” he said, adding police are trying to come up with a PTSD
model specific to policing.
Comparisons
to the military model don’t work, he said, because “people in the military
situation are not looking to go back to the front line. We’re looking for
something that fits policing.”
A working
group of police leaders is trying to come up with an education component to
address stigma as well as preventable piece.
The
biggest challenge is a diagnostic tool.
The
generally accepted practice is that, during WSIB hearings, opinion evidence
from psychologists and psychiatrists is presented and the tribunal makes a
determination.
“Our position
is that it would be preferable to have a diagnostic tool to facilitate these
processes,” Bain said. “That’s what we’ve been working on.”
Earlier
this year, the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards, the umbrella
group for municipal policing boards across the province, objected to making
PTSD a presumptive workplace injury for police.
Fred
Kaustinen, executive director of the association, said the government should
require all PTSD diagnoses in police personnel to be made by registered
psychiatrists or clinical psychologists.
A general
practitioner should not be qualified to diagnose PTSD, said Kaustinen, adding
he understands PTSD because he acquired the illness while serving in the army.
Province-wide
standards of diagnosis should be implemented to weed out possible misdiagnosis
or fraud, which can put financial stress on municipalities, he said.
“We
recognize it (PTSD) is real and it’s extremely difficult, and also extremely
difficult to assess.”
Kaustinen
said police employers are concerned that the illness can be faked.
“What
I’ve heard from police chiefs is they get the family GP (general practitioner)
to write it up and then they use that to bridge into retirement,” Kaustinen
said. “Take a few years off early.”
David
McFadden, president of the Police Association of Ontario, said officers
suffering from PTSD want nothing better than to be treated quickly and get back
to work.
He cited
the recent case of Peterborough-Lakefield tactical officer Keith
Calderwood, who was
shot multiple times, once by friendly fire, while carrying out a drug warrant
in Lindsay, Ont., on June 22, 2011.
Calderwood
got immediate psychological help along with physical assistance, and after
therapy is back at work doing light duties behind a desk.
“We as an
association were able to facilitate a psychologist to him right away,” McFadden
said. “We didn’t wait three or four days.”
Calderwood
told the Star he was able to return to work because of early psychological
intervention.
“I want
to return to the tactical squad,” he added.
ALSO ON THE STAR:
How the Ontario Provincial Police deals with officers’ PTSD
ALSO ON THE STAR:
How the Ontario Provincial Police deals with officers’ PTSD
Bill 67, Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), 2013
Current Status: First Reading Carried
Viewing: Original (current version) pdf
- View the Bill
- Status
- Debates
- Acts Affected
Bill
67
2013
An Act to
amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 with respect to
post-traumatic stress disorder
Note: This
Act amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.
For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public
Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.
Her
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the
Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997
is amended by adding the following sections:
Presumption
re: emergency response workers, etc.
Definitions
15.3 (1) In this section,
“emergency
response worker” means a firefighter, police officer or paramedic;
(“intervenant d’urgence”)
“firefighter”
has the same meaning as in subsection 1 (1) of the Fire
Protection and Prevention Act, 1997; (“pompier”)
“paramedic”
has the same meaning as in subsection 1 (1) of the Ambulance
Act; (“auxiliaire médical”)
“police
officer” has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Police
Services Act; (“agent de police”)
“post-traumatic
stress disorder” means an anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a
traumatic event or experience with symptoms that may include flashbacks,
nightmares and intense feelings of fear or horror. (“trouble de stress
post-traumatique”)
Presumption
re: post-traumatic stress disorder
(2) If an emergency response worker suffers from post-traumatic
stress disorder, the disorder is presumed to be an occupational disease that
occurs due to the nature of the worker’s employment as an emergency response
worker, unless the contrary is shown.
Time of
diagnosis
(3) The presumption in subsection (2) applies only to post-traumatic
stress disorder diagnosed on or after the day the Workplace
Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), 2013
receives Royal Assent.
Conditions
and restrictions
(4) The presumption in subsection (2) is subject to any conditions
and restrictions prescribed under clause (5) (a).
Regulations
(5) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) prescribing conditions and restrictions relating to the presumption
established by subsection (2), including, but not limited to, conditions and
restrictions related to nature of employment, length of employment, time during
which the worker was employed or age of the worker;
(b) providing for such transitional matters as the Lieutenant Governor in
Council considers necessary or advisable in relation to this section and the
regulations under this section.
Claims
based on presumption
15.4 (1) This section applies where the
presumption established under section 15.3 applies to the post-traumatic stress
disorder with which a worker is diagnosed.
New claims
(2) If the worker or his or her survivor never filed a claim in
respect of the disorder, the worker or his or her survivor may file a claim
with the Board, and the Board shall decide the claim in accordance with section
15.3 and the regulations under it, as that section and those regulations read
at the time the Board makes its decision.
Refiled
claim
(3) Subject to subsection (4), if the worker or his or her survivor
filed a claim in respect of the disorder and the claim was denied by the Board
or by the Appeals Tribunal, the worker or his or her survivor may refile the
claim with the Board and the Board shall decide the claim in accordance with
section 15.3 and the regulations under it, as that section and those
regulations read at the time the Board makes its decision.
Time
limits do not apply
(4) The time limits set out in subsections 22 (1) and (2) do not
apply in respect of a claim that is refiled under subsection (3).
Pending
appeal
(5) If a claim is pending before the Appeals Tribunal, the Appeals
Tribunal shall refer the claim back to the Board, and the Board shall decide
the claim in accordance with section 15.3 and the regulations under it, as that
section and those regulations read at the time the Board makes its
decision.
Pending
claim
(6) If a claim is pending before the Board, the Board shall decide
the claim in accordance with section 15.3 and the regulations under it, as that
section and those regulations read at the time the Board makes its
decision.
Commencement
2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short
title
3. The short title of this Act is the Workplace
Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), 2013.
EXPLANATORY
NOTE
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 is amended to
create a rebuttable presumption relating to post-traumatic stress disorder
affecting emergency response workers.
Subsection
15.3 (1) defines emergency response worker to mean a firefighter, paramedic or
police officer.
Subsection
15.3 (2) states that if an emergency response worker suffers from
post-traumatic stress disorder, the disorder is presumed to be an occupational
disease that occurred due to the employment as an emergency response worker,
unless the contrary is shown.
The Bill
sets out procedural and transitional rules governing claims to which a
presumption applies.
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