Canadian Safety Reporter

6 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2016 CSR | May 2016 | News No benefits for pre-existing back condition after workplace injury Worker was already performing modified duties because of degenerative condition when he strained his back at work BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ONTARIO WORKER is not entitled to workers' compensa- tion benefits for a back injury that was related to an existing condition, not a work accident, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal has ruled. The 54-year-old worker was employed as a shipper/receiver in a warehouse environment. In January 2011, the worker suf- fered a right arm injury at work and received a non-economic loss award from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). He was unable to return to his full duties because of the injury, so he was placed on modified duties to last until the modified work was no longer available in January 2013. Once this time was up, the worker was expected to start a work transi- tion program where he would be moved to another job that met his medical restrictions. In May 2012, the worker saw his family doctor complaining of progressive back pain. At the time, his was laid off and didn't return to modified duties until June. The doctor determined the worker had a back sprain with compression neuropathy, so he went for an MRI that showed a degenerative condition in his lumbar spine. Back injury while performing modified duties In January 2013 — while per- forming modified duties — the worker was driving a standing forklift and passed over a dock plate. As the forklift trundled over the dock plate, the worker felt pain in his lower back. He went to his family physician, who diagnosed a low back soft- tissue sprain or strain. The doctor wrote a report for the employer indicating the worker could return to modified duties three days later while undergo- ing physiotherapy treatments. The worker filed a claim for health care benefits and loss of earnings benefits and the WSIB accepted the claim, granting the worker benefits for one week ending on Jan. 21, 2013. Because of the new injury, the worker was unable to participate in the work transition program once the modified work con- tract ended. The WSIB granted additional loss-of-earnings and health care benefits until March 25, 2013. The WSIB determined benefits would end on March 25 because an earlier medical re- port had revealed degenerative changes in the worker's lumbar spine that was a pre-existing condition and any disability be- yond March would be related to "the natural course" of the con- dition and therefore not work- related. The worker appealed the deci- sion, asking for benefits beyond March 25, arguing the back strain was work-related and the rea- son he couldn't proceed with the work transition program. He had an MRI on Apr. 9 that confirmed degenerative disc disease in his spine, which had not changed since an MRI a year earlier. An appeals resolution offi- cer upheld the decision that the worker's back strain would be healed by March 25 and any on- going disability would be from his non-compensable "underly- ing degenerative condition." The worker appealed once again. The appeals tribunal found that the medical documenta- tion on file did not show a causal link between the worker's ongo- ing back issues and the strain he suffered while operating the forklift. The forklift injury was a soft-tissue strain, while the on- going problems were related to the discs in the worker's spine, said the tribunal. The tribunal noted that the worker began reporting back pain to his doctor in May 2012, about nine months before the forklift incident. This pain wasn't the result of a specific injury, but Credit: Lightspring (Shutterstock) Worker > pg. 8 e WSIB determined benefits would end two months after the workplace injury because any disability beyond then would be related to the worker's degenerative condition.

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