Safety Reporter
Canadian
www.safety-reporter.com
September 2018
Worker caught doing too much,
loses worker's compensation benefits
Worker downplayed abilities from injury while surveillance showed otherwise;
benefits terminated for abusing modified work program
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
worker who had his workers'
compensation benefits termi-
nated after surveillance showed
him doing more than he said he
was capable of has had his appeal
dismissed by the P.E.I. Court of
Appeal.
Robert Doiron was a police
officer and security officer at the
University of Prince Edward Is-
land in Charlottetown. On Oct.
29, 2015, Doiron was on duty
patrolling the university campus
when he slipped and fell down
some stairs. In the fall, he in-
jured his right groin muscle and
strained his left hip, requiring
Stress of old complaint not a
danger related to current job
Public servant exercised work refusal
after he was denied paid leave to work
on his complaint against previous employer
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A FEDERAL public servant's complaint against his former employer
in another government department may have caused him stress but
didn't cause a danger to him in his current position that warranted a
work refusal, the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Tribunal
has ruled.
Pierre Morin was a senior program advisor at Employment and
Social Development Canada (ESDC) for the federal government
DEGENERATIVE CONDITION
NOT AGGRAVATED BY MINOR
WORKPLACE ACCIDENT
Worker didn't miss time or require accommodation
until surgery 11 months later pg. 6
PARTIAL PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT
NOT A RECURRENCE OF INJURY
Worker claimed entitlement
after taking additional time off
from new job, but he already received
award for partial impairment pg. 3
FIRING WAS BUSINESS DECISION,
NOT DISCRIMINATION
Employer properly handled harassment
incident; decided to dismiss worker
after learning she planned to quit pg. 5
INSIDE
NEWS BRIEF
Activities > pg. 4
Credit:
Shutterstock/Romaset
Complaint > pg. 2
PM
#40065782
U.S. COURT ORDERS
GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE
CHEMICAL SAFETY RULE
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A fed-
eral appeals court has ordered the
Trump administration to immedi-
ately implement an Obama-era
chemical safety rule introduced af-
ter a 2013 explosion at a Texas fer-
tilizer plant that killed 15 people.
The D.C. Circuit Court ruling was
the latest to counter efforts under
President Donald Trump to delay en-
vironmental regulations introduced
by former President Barack Obama.
The court ordered the Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency to
implement the Chemical Disaster
Rule, saying the EPA did not have
authority to delay the rule.
A week before Trump took office,
the EPA issued the rule, which re-
quired industries to take steps to
prevent disasters. Those included
more analysis of safety technol-
ogy, third-party audits, incident
investigation analysis and stricter
emergency preparedness.
Former EPA head Scott Pruitt,
who resigned in July under ethics
allegations, had argued the rule
posed unnecessary burdens and
introduced a proposal to rescind
the rule.
An EPA spokesman said the
agency was reviewing the ruling.