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Injuries

And Complete Forms

Every injury

that occurs on-the-job should be reported im-

mediately to the employer. If the injury requires attention from a
physician or qualified practitioner, it is important that the work-
man, employer and doctor submit their respective reports to the
WCB. This is not the case, of course, when a workman is treated
by a first aid attendant for a minor condition, not requiring the

attention of a doctor.

When the injury is not reported to
the employer or the WCB and the
workman’s condition for which he had
previously consulted his doctor deter-
iorates, the Act has not been com-
plied with and there may be no proof
that such an incident occurred at
work in the first place.

A few doctors are reluctant to fill
in their reports to the WCB in cases
which they consider to be trivial and
where their patients are covered by
a prepaid medical plan.

“LET'S PUT THIS on M.S.A. and save
filling out those compensation forms,”
is wrong attitude for workman or doc-
tor to take when workman has sus-
tained a minor work injury. It’s vital
that employer and WCB are informed
of incident to protect workman’s right
to compensation if condition becomes

serious.

If the workman tells the doctor
that the incident occurred at work but
not to bother reporting it to the
WCR, the doctor should report the
incident on the Form 8 to the WCB
as required under Section 52(a) of
the Act.

If the doctor feels it is not a com-
pensation case, but the workman in-
sists that it be reported as such, the
doctor is required to submit a Form
8 to the WCB. The doctor is obli-
gated to submit his personal opinion
and conelusions on the Form 8.

Advise Board

It has been said that some employ-
ers hesitate to report a work injury
to the WCB because it may spoil a
fine safety record or their assessment
rate might be increased. It has been
suggested that they may use pressure
on the workman if the injury is not
severe and strongly urge him to have
his medical bills paid for by the pre-
paid plan, meanwhile keeping him on
the payroll and giving him some light
work to do until he has recovered.

There is no objection in any way to
the workman doing light employment
as long as the WCB has been advised
ef the injury and the man’s doctor

feels that such employment would be

of therapeutic value.
Collusion on the part of the work-

man and employer to keep a work
injury from being reported to the
WCB cannot be condoned and neither
the workman nor employer should
consider it. f

At a recent Workmen’s Compensa-
tion Seminar for union officials spon-
sored by the B.C. Federation of Lab-
our in cooperation with the WCB, the
subject of Workmen’s Compensation
and prepaid medical plans was dis-
cussed.

WCB Assistant Chief Medical Of-
ficer, Dr. J. Ross Davidson addressed
the delegates on this topic and stress-
ed the importance of workmen, doc-
tors, and employers reporting work
injuries to the WCB.

Smart Thing

Dr. Davidson said, “Let us not
assume, however, that the smart thing
to do is to report all disabilities as
compensation claims first, then, if
disallowed, to the prepaid schemes.
This approach is neither logical nor
honest. The two agencies, that is the
Compensation Board and the prepaid
schemes, are set up with different
purposes to ensure coverage to their
members under differing circumstan-
ces.

The Board is concerned only with
coverage for disability which results
solely from employment. The prepaid
schemes are, on the other hand, for
coverage for those conditions which
arise outside of the employment or
for the treatment of constitutional
disease. The Compensation Act is not
designed as health insurance nor are
the prepaid schemes expected to cover
industrial accidents. Each has its own
place and it is the duty of the officers
of each scheme to determine their
own responsibility according to their
terms of reference.

Agency Makes Adjudication

“This point must be made clear —
it is not the duty, nor is it the right
of the attending physician or regis-
tered practitioner to determine wheth-
er or not a condition should be cov-
ered by compensation or by a prepaid
scheme. By experience he may have
an idea that certain conditions usually
fall into the responsibility of one or
the other, but the final adjudication
must remain with the agency involved.

Serious Condition

“One realizes that the easy way is
for the employee and even the doctor
to say ‘let’s put this on M.S.A. and
save filling out those Compensation
forms’ but what at first appears to be
an inconsequential condition may later
develop into a serious condition in-

YOUR BACK IS Bua tia

@ Stand close to the load

@ Take a secure grip.

@ Keep the back upright.

® Take a steady lift — don’t jerk.

e Have a firm footing.

@ Bend the knees.

@ Lift with the legs.

@ Shift the feet to turn — don't twist
the body.

WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

tu Sais. = ' id ies Moin hie! ot Ny a

THE WCB’s X-RAY DEPARTMENT

was kept busy last year. 8527 workmen were X-rayed during 1960, The X-ray De-

partment is located in the WCB Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver where the latest equipment and methods qre used
under the supervision of Doctor Angus Campbell, Radiologist. Expert WCB Senior Radiographer Walter Miller is shown

above X-raying injured workman.

volving time loss or even permanent
disability. If the employee wishes to
gamble on this, then I suppose it is
his own affair but he must realize
that in so doing, he is jeopardizing his
right to compensation if he applies
for this at a later date.

“T can assure you that both the
prepaid schemes and the Compensa-
tion Board are aware of the irregulari-
ties. The control of these irregulari-
ties is another matter. The Board and
the B.C. Medical Association are co-
operating to bring to the attention of
the medical profession the necessity
for carefully reporting to the right
agency. You have a responsibility as
advisers to the employees, to see that
your fellow workmen, in their own
interests, do the same.

Injured Workmen

“Speaking for this Board, I can
assure you that we are most anxious
to assume our responsibilities in res-
pect to injured workmen, but at the
same time we are adamant that we do
not take on those responsibilities that
rightfully belong to the prepaid
scheme.”

Smokers Cause
Most Fires

Careless smokers were blamed
as the main cause of fire deaths
in British Columbia, it was stated
in a report filed in the Legisla-
ture.

In this report, B.C. Fire Marshal
Basil Nixon stated that in the year
ended March 31, 1960, there had been
86 deaths from fire in B.C., 15 due to
smoking.

He further stated there were 8,268
fires in 1959, an increase of 205 from
the previous year.

Time Out

There was a young girl from St.
Paul,

ag ines a newspaper dress to a
au,

But the dress caught on fire
And burned her entire

as page—sporting section—and
all.

* * *

New bride: “Why are you frowning
at that letter? Are you worried? Re-
member, darling, your problems are
our problems- now.”

Husband: “Well then—some dame
in Calgary is suing us for breach of
promise.”

* * *

The young man looked at the high
prices on the night club menu and
then turned to his date and said:
“What will you have, my plump little

doll?”
* » *

She made a right-hand turn from
the left lane and collided with another
car.

“Lady—why didn’t you signal?” he
roared,

“Don’t be silly,” she retorted, “I
always turn here.”

Took a critical look at the hazards of
your job.

Read the Safety Committee Minutes to
keep up to date.

Did something to remove a hazard.

Developed a good safety idea.

Take a fresh look around your job.

Considered why accidents are caused.

Give a second thought to how you could get hurt.

Check and double check the hazards that concern
you.

BRITISH COLUMBIA
WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION BOARD