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Page 16 THE HERALD Wednesday July 1990 Injured workers outlook is brighter under Bill 162 A worker who Is hurt on the job has less chance of returning to his or her job with every day away from the shop floor the construction site or the desk Research studies show that a worker who has not been able to return to his or her old job for a Whiting questions need for election In a press release issued for publication the probability of a Provincial election this fall has been called a shameful waste of hard earned tax dollars by North Progressive PC candidate Dave Whiting Chief Election Officer Warren Bailie has estimated the tab for the election will cost Ontario tax payers million tax revenues Mr Whiting says would be better spent pursuing such broken 1987 Liberal election promises as the construction of 000 affordable rental units about 20 have been built to date the addition of 400 new hospital beds there has been a net loss of 2 000 beds and getting he thousands of Ontario public and separate school children currently in portables out of them and into regular classrooms the number of children in portable classrooms has increased since The excuse for an election call is that this Government claims to have almost completed work on the mandate it received from On tarians in 1987 explains Mr Whiting The Liberal record with respect to affordable housing health care education Sunday shopping auto insurance and the environment suggests to me that they should be looking at their finished agenda as opposed to fabricating a completed agenda as an excuse to go to the polls Mr Whiting adds that Ontario Premier David Peterson pending decision to seek a new mandate will be based on not much more than pure political opportunism The polls appear to be in his favour at the moment he ex plains However I believe this support is soft because the public is just now beginning to pay for five years of Liberal excesses most notably the service payments on Ontario billion debt and its re cent and punitive auto insurance scheme Mr Whitmg adds that there is one other issue on the that will figure largely in Mr Peter son decision to seek reelection Mr Peterson and others in his government have a court date with former Liberal Party fundraiser Starr in October he says The evidence that comes out of what many people consider to be the biggest political scandal in On s history could be very damaging to Ontario Liberals Mr Peterson has tittle hope of reelection if he completes the five- year mandate he was given and a glimmer of hope if he emds his current mandate soon un for its governing length and lack of ac complishments as it may be year has only a 30 per cent chance of ever returning to that job With the passage of time chances of a return decrease even more rapid ly Today the outlook is a lot brighter thanks to some of the latest changes to the Workers Compensation Act introduced with Bill 162 Bill 162 became effective on January 2nd and affects vir tually all employers and workers in the province It represents the most dramatic reform to the system since the introduction of workers compensation in Ontario 75 years ago According to John Boyd Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Consul tant at the Workers Compensation Board A key goal of the recent Bill is to reintegrate injured workers into the workforce more quickly and successfully than in the past by providing for more timely and effective vocational rehabilitation services The voca tional rehabilitation provisions are meant to help alleviate the adverse effects of injury or disease by re establishing as much as possible a worker s earnings the earnings the worker was mg before the accident Before the changes contained in BUI 162 some injured workers could wait up to 18 months before participating in a vocation rehabilitation program a delay that often resulted in additional and unnecessary hardships on a family s budget not to mention its morale Boyd notes that before Bill the Board had no precise mandate to communicate with an injured worker within a specified timeframe for vocational rehabilitation services This was of concern to a lot of people the possibility of such a long wait and the negative effect this has on a worker The worker begins to con sider himself or herself disabled and then recovery and returning to work is very difficult comments Boyd Now the staff must contact any worker who has not returned to his or her job within days of an accident being reported It is at this early initial stage that the Board determines whether the worker could benefit from voca tional rehabilitation services As well under Bill sions the WCB must offer a voca rehabilitation assessment to any worker remaining off work for more than six months This assess ment may include an evaluation of the worker s physical abilities ap titude tests analysis of vocational skills educational achievements and literacy and language skills in short an evaluation of all the different elements that may have an impact on a worker choosing a new suitable vocation The concept of early intervention is supported by a series of regular reviews of a worker s progress andor needs The initial Board contact is followed by regular con tacts every six weeks Once a worker is a vocational rehabilitation program the Board meets with him or her every two weeks This connection continues even after the vocational rehabilitation program is com pleted with contacts at six months and one year later The new vocational rehabilita provisions also state that any injured worker participating in a Board authorized vocational rehabilitation program will receive benefits at per cent of his or her pre- injury earnings To team more about the WCB s vocational rehabilitation services contact the Vocational tion Consulting Services Branch or the local WCB office serving your 26 Guelph St Georgetown Ont 877 9896 LOOK GOOD FEEL GREAT Male and Female Memberships Available Month Trial Membership t Mil WORK THAT BODY 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