and Issue, November B.C. LUMBER WORKER to become alarmed lore hazards and to 0 size up situations there is always time fest manner possible. pped by circumstance before acting. in all sections of the lumber indust: job safety committees. ae IWA DISTRICT SAFETY CONFERENCE, convened November 24, with delegates from all coast Local Unions, and heard reports of progress made ry. Considerable attention was given to the subject of fatalities among fallers and buckers, and the status of are not made promptly. We want to do our part. We expect you to do yours in dealing with your in- jured members. Only by the co- operation of all concerned can we do the job. The Act itself puts the burden on the claimant. It is worthwhile to take a look at Section 49. This provides that it is the duty of the workman, or in case of his death the duty of a dependent, as soon as practicable after the happening of an acci- dent to give notice thereto to the employer. The notice is required to be in writing and to contain the name and address of the workman and to state in ordinary language the nature and cause of the injury and the time when and place where the accident occurred, and is required to be signed. Failure to give the notice re- quired by this Section shall be a bar for any claim for com- pensation under the Act unless excused by the Board on one of three grounds. I cannot empha- size too strongly the difficulties which can and do arise par- ticularly in back, shoulder and knee claims and in certain in- dustrial diseases through the workman’s failure to report or to seek medical assistance. I could mention numerous other matters such as the recent ex- pansion of industrial diseases, staphylococcus for hospital and other workers exposed to the disease, revision and expansion of dermatitis coverage, provision for workers exposed to radioactive matter and so forth but I think I should make special mention of permanent partial disability awards. Disability Ratings Since the inception of the Act in 1917 a Permanent Partial Dis- ability scale has been applied to those who suffer loss of a part of the body, or loss of function of a part of the body. This principle is followed under all Canadian Com- pensation Act and I believe most of those in the United States. If a person suffers the loss of an arm at the shoulder he is en- titled under our scale to be rated as 76% of total disability. If he was totally disabled he would be entitled to receive 75% of his wages for life. The loss of an arm at the shoulder therefore en- titles him to 76% of that amount. The loss of an index finger would entitle him to 3% % of total. Our ratings are equal to or higher than that of any other province. We have, however, applied an age adaptability factor and that factor has made it difficult to explain an award to a work- man or to you who may repre- sent him. It works like this—if the entitlement is greater than 50% then no, matter what the age of the injured: man is at the time of his injury all awards are the same (based of course on the individual’s ac- tual earning). If it is less than 50% then the award to a man under age 40 is less than that of a man of 40 and if he is older than age 40 it is greater than a man of 40 could receive. Roughly it works out that a man of 60 would get about 50% more than a man of 40 and a man of 20 would get about 20% Jess than a man of 40. We are the only Board in Can- ada which uses the age adapt- ability factor. The theory is that with a functional loss a man younger than age 40 is more adaptable and can more easily become employed than a man in later life. Age Adaptability It was stated to the Commis- sioner in 1942 that in this prov- ince there were less opportunists because we had far less secon- dary industries than elsewhere. One wonders if the same facts apply today. If the principle is right and it’ was raised before the Commissioner again in 1950 without, as far as I know, any comment being made upon the principle, then perhaps the time has come to consider a revision. The need for the age adapt- ability factor perhaps has gone although ‘probably an additional percentage should be allowed for men in the older age group who sustain injuries. More injuries occur in the 20-40 age group than formerly. It would likely be fairer and would undoubtedly be simpler of explanation to revise the for- mula, ; I should also say a’ few words about the control of accidents. The work that organized labor has been doing in this province has come to the attention of the National Safety Congress in the United States. About October, 1955, our Department was asked to advise in setting up a labor safety section, that section was functioning at the last conference (the 44th) held in Chicago, Octo- /ber 24, 1956. Among those on the panel of the Labor Safety Work- shop was Mr. John T. Atkinson, Safety Director of the IWA. I should say that the IWA and the Pulp and Sulphite Workers in this province give a strong lead to accident prevention from the labor standpoint. industrial workers. WHEREAS the death toll and injury rate by accident in British Columbia continues at a terrific cost in manpower and money, and WHEREAS the cost of such personal tragedies’ is born by the citizens as a whole and therefore becomes a serious social problem, and WHEREAS the B.C. Govern- ment in co-operation with the B.C. Safety Council have spon- sored a provincial safety confer- ence in Vancouver for Nov. 23rd and 24th to consider a provincial safety program, and WHEREAS all trade union members of this federation should become member participants of the B.C. Safety Council, and by an organized, well planned safety program, based on sound princi- Federation Meet Calls For Action John T. Atkinson, IWA District Safety Director, made a vigorous appeal to the merger convention of the B. Cc. Federation of Labour to institute a province-wide trade union crusade to make working conditions safe for the Speaking in support of the resolution, he asserted that protection of life and limb for the workers was one of the primary reasons for trade unionism. The resolution unanimously adopted was: NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT this conven- tion of, organized labor in B.C. direct the officers of this merged federation, in consultation with its member organizations, to pre- pare a co-ordinated program of safety that will include positive steps to prevent accidents to workers at all times, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this program be based on a proper definition of responsibil- ities and co-operation to be as- sumed by labor, management and government in all phases of acci- dent prevention, and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT provision be made finan- cially for the direction and co- ordination of continued effort in ples and vigorously executed, and furtherance of this program. |