If you have been operating a piece
of equipment or have been working
at a job where there has been a
significant amount of vibration
and you have developed serious
back problems, you may be eligible
for compensation for Whole
Body Vibration (WBV) occu-
pational disease.

Recently the I.W.A. has been
trying to get the Workers
Compensation Board of British
Columbia to include WBV under
Schedule “B” for occupational
diseases.

The evidence is clear. Being
exposed to WBV for prolonged
periods of time is a serious health
risk and there may be many I.W.A.
members who are eligible for
compensation.

“For some of our members, it’s
been hard to associate vibration
with a back problem that may have
developed,” says Local 2171 safety
director Jim Parker, a member of
the union’s national safety council.
“People in the past have learned to
live with WBV-relation diseases.
Most people accept vibrations as
part of the machinery they work
on.

“And in the past the medical
community didn’t have the inform-
ation to associate it (WBV) — but
that’s changing,” he adds, due to a
research report.

In April of 1999, Dr. Kay Teschke
of the University of British Columbia
Department of Health Care and
Epidemiology delivered a report to
the WCB Appeals Division, on the
relationship between WBV and back
disorders.

The report, a review of previous
scientific studies, found over-
whelming evidence of a strong
association between the two. It was
shown that WBV causes a number
of serious back disorders (see The
Effects Seen in Studies of WBV, this

page).

“We've suspected for a long time
that working on equipment was
causing back injuries,” says Brother
Parker.

The local union had a number of
WCB appeals open for years.

Then in one case, involving a 42
year old front-end log loader
operator, the union won
compensation for WBV-related back
disease. Ms. Tescke’s report served
as an important source of evidence
because one study reviewed in it
proved that certain vibration doses
are present under certain conditions
when operating a Caterpillar 980 or
960 loader.

The I.W.A. member in question
had operated these loaders for about
18 years. He regularly drove over
shot rock on a dryland sort.

“We were able to show that he
hada prety high exposure to WBV
over a long period of time - and that
he was exposed to at least a level
shown in one of the studies,” says
Parker. “As a result the (WCB)
Appeals Division accepted that his
exposure to WBV had aggravated a
pre-existing back condition to result
in disability.”

Parker points out that in B.C.,
workers can have pre-existing
conditions that they bring to the
workplace from outside and that, as
long as those conditions are not
disabling when the started work,
they can receive compensation if
they develop a disabling condition
which is activated or aggravated by
the WBY,

“People who have had 5 or more
years of exposure to WBV are going
to have a much greater likelihood of
having these types of back disorders.

The spine can be a major area of ©

damage,” says Parker,
“Tf a worker has been working

¢ The vibrations and pounding that heavy equipment operators take can cause serious back problems.

with heavy equipment where there
is a large component of WBV and
they have been doing it for over 5
years and they have a back condition
which they suspect has been caused
by that work, they should try to get
that claim accepted and, if it’s not
accepted, consider an appeal.”

The union can send information
to the WCB and the worker’s
physician.

“We think there’s very strong
evidence for WBV to be put in
Schedule “B” of the WCB Act,” he said.

National first president Neil
Menard has already written the
WCB, calling for inclusion into
Schedule “B” and for the board to
develop preventative measures.

The WCB has responded, saying
they will set up a meeting between
the I.W.A.,; Dr. Teschke and
themselves to look into the whole
matter of WBV further.

The board’s Occupational Disease
Advisory Committee will be looking
at the issue in the months ahead:

“Considering the number of
workers in the province that may be
exposed to WBV and the problem it
is, I think it should be a fairly high
priority. It’s going to be a major
issue,” said Parker.

Awareness is growing. Local union
safety directors have been informed
and the national safety council is
getting the word out across Canada.

“It’s important that people get
information,” he adds.

Parker notes that when workers
often hurt their backs, they may be
given driving jobs, where WBV doses
can be high. Those may be forms of
“light duty” which he says can cause
further back problems.

THE EFFECTS SEEN IN STUDIES OF WBY

° increased muscle tension and
fatigue

° increased load on vertebral bodies
and discs causing fatigue and pain

° occurrence of micro and larger
fractures of the vertebral end
plates which are part of spine
and in the Spongenus bone in the
inner part of vertebrae

° occurrence of callous formation
during healing leading to reduced
area for nutrient diffusion

¢ disturbance of vertebrae end
plates and often diffusion
characteristics

18/LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 2001

¢ shear and torsion forces, combined
with vibration produces ruptures
of annulus (outer ring of disc) and
spondylolytic fractures

° reduction of nutrition of inter-
vertebral discs causing more rapid
degeneration.

e Equipment operators are exposed to years of whole body vibration

° changes in disc in combination
with vibration-induced accu-
mulation of metabolites, increase
the risk of disc herniation

° a softening and weakening of
spinal ligaments can lead to local
inflammatory response in discs

which can be measured with special equipment.

—