Exposure/ Illness/ Injury and Benefits
Please see details from our BUP Steph on how to navigate this process:
I wanted to clarify what you should do in the event that you are exposed to an infectious illness (including respiratory illness'), if you become ill and have reason to believe you contracted the illness at work, how to report these things, and what to do if you receive an adverse decision from the WSIB.
- If you are ever exposed to a patient who has an infectious illness - I highly recommend that you report this to WSIB as an exposure. This is for when you have been exposed, but have not become ill. This helps provide documentation of the occurrence SHOULD you become ill after the exposure. To report an exposure you can complete a report online here.
- You will be asked to create an account.
- Ensure you choose the option to report an EXPOSURE - as this is not the same as filing a claim for an illness or injury
- Having this supportive documentation will be helpful should you subsequently become ill - as there will be a record of the occurrence and WSIB will have it on file already.
- I usually add the H0 # of the patient if they are a known source of exposure, but if there are multiple points of exposure I would make note that you may have had exposure to other patients on the unit (if this statement is true for you)
- You can notify EHW that you have filed an exposure report. There will be nothing really for them to do at this point as you are just notifying them that you had an exposure and reported it to the WSIB.
- Other things you should report as exposures are when you are notified of/are aware of exposure to chicken pox, shingles, Group B Strep, bacterial meningitis, TB etc.
- If your unit is placed in outbreak you should complete exposure reports for the shifts you work during that time.
- If you become ill and you have reason to believe you became ill due to an exposure at work - you will then need to report this as a claim for illness. The same goes for if you ever sustain an injury while at work.
- Fill out an incident report (RL6) at the time of occurrence IF YOU ARE ABLE TO
- Contact Employee Health & Wellness and notify them of the illness or injury - this triggers them to complete a Form 7 to submit to WSIB
- Seek medical attention - ensure your HCP completes a WSIB Form 8 and submits this to WSIB. You will also receive a copy of this. Keep it for your records.
- You will need to file a WSIB Form 6 - called the Worker's Report - where you provide more information. The more detailed you can be, the better. Please maintain confidentiality of patients. You can use H0#'s. You can do that here.
- If you lose any time from work, please connect with EHW. ONA members have a pay advancement for WSIB that can be issued prior to WSIB rendering a decision (this can sometimes take awhile). The caveat to this, is that if your claim is denied, you may end up in a position of repayment to the employer for your loss of earnings coverage.
- If you receive an adverse decision or a denial of your WSIB claim - please e-mail me (local55bupstmarys@ona.org) and I will provide further direction.
- ONA has a team of WSIB specialists who assist with appealing denials, and assist with other claims related issues.
Unfortunately, because approved claims do impact the cost of premiums to the employer - there are times when the employer does not provide the most accurate information or will submit information on the Form 7 report to increase the likelihood that there will be a denial. Especially when it comes to respiratory viruses in which they will claim the unit was not in outbreak, which casts reasonable doubt and shifts the blame to a community acquired illness. This is why documenting those exposures when they happen is important. WSIB even has an FAQ that alludes to similar intent on their end. Our work places us at a higher level of risk for being exposed to, and contracting illness. We deserve to be paid if we are sick because of a workplace acquired illness or injury. So don't let this deter you. You have a team with ONA on your side.