WSIB Policy Updates

Although the WSIB periodically makes revisions or corrections to existing operational policies, it does not redline or track these changes for the public. The Office of the Employer Adviser out of necessity tracks the changes for its staff, and will start to provide this information on its web site beginning with the most recent operational policy changes. Please click on the links provided below to view the changes that have been made to each of the individual policies listed. The policies are grouped according to the date the changes were released.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Employer Adviser at 1-800-387-0774 or 416-327-0020.

Revisions Published February 11, 2010:

• 15-03-12, Heart Injuries in Firefighters and Fire Investigators
• 23-02-01, Cancers in Firefighters and Fire Investigators
• 18-01-02, Benefit Dollar Amounts – Accidents from 1998
• 18-01-03, Benefit Dollar Amounts – Accidents before 1998

Revisions Published January 5, 2010:

• 13-01-02, Workwell Program
• 15-01-02, Employers’ Initial Accident-Reporting Obligations
• 18-01-05, Table of Rates
• 18-01-06, Redirected Benefit Payments
• 24-01-01, Hearing Fees and Expenses

Revisions Published October 14, 2009:

• 21-02-04, Disclosure of Claim File Information to Worker or Employer Representatives
• 21-02-06, Disclosure of Claim File Information to Health Care Providers, LMR Providers, and Research Entities
• 17-06-03, Independent Living Devices
• 15-04-02, Psychotraumatic Disability
• 15-04-03, Chronic Pain Disability
• 15-04-04, Chronic Pain Disability Rating Schedule
• 18-03-07, Loss of Retirement Income Benefits (Accidents on or after January 1, 1998)
• 18-04-17, Loss of Retirement Income Benefits (Accidents from January 2, 1990 to December 31, 1997)
• 19-01-04, Job Search Assistance
• 19-03-02, LMR Assessments

Revisions published February 11, 2010

Revisions to four WSIB policies were published on February 11, 2010. Changes are indicated by boldface font.

15-03-12, Heart Injuries in Firefighters and Fire Investigators

The language in this policy was revised to reflect the changes in O. Reg. 253/07 “Firefighters” as amended by O. Reg. 423/09. It expands coverage for presumed causation under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA) for heart injuries to part-time firefighters, volunteer firefighters and fire investigators. The title of this policy was therefore changed from “Heart Injuries in Full-Time Firefighters” to “Heart Injuries in Firefighters and Fire Investigators.”

Changes to the text under the Law heading were made to reflect the above-mentioned changes in the amended Regulation. The wording was changed from:

If a full-time, firefighter sustains an injury to the heart in the circumstances prescribed under Ontario Regulation 253/07 (the Regulation) under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (the Act), the injury is presumed to be a personal injury arising out of and in the course of the worker’s employment as a firefighter, unless the contrary is shown.

to:

If a full-time,part-time or volunteer firefighter or fire investigator sustains an injury to the heart in the circumstances prescribed under Ontario Regulation 253/07 as amended by Ontario Regulation 423/09 (the Regulation) under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (the Act), the injury is presumed to be a personal injury arising out of and in the course of the worker’s employment, unless the contrary is shown.

The significant changes in the “Guidelines,” section under the heading “Inclusion,” reflect the expanded application of coverage. With the revised text mirroring O. Reg. 253/07 as amended by O. Reg. 423/09, the wording was changed from:

Inclusion

This policy applies to workers who are full-time firefighters as defined in Section 1 of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 who are scheduled to work an average of 35 hours or more per week.

to:

Inclusion

This policy applies to

• workers who are full-time or volunteer firefighters as defined in Section 1 of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997
• part-time firefighters, defined as a worker who is a firefighter and is not a volunteer or full-time firefighter
• fire investigators, defined as

• a worker to whom the Fire Marshal appointed under subsection 8(1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 has delegated the duty to investigate the cause, origin and circumstances of a fire, or
• a worker who was an inspector appointed under subsection 2(4) of the Fire Marshals Act before that Act was repealed by the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997.

For the purpose of the policy, the term "firefighter" refers to a full-time firefighter, a part-time firefighter or a volunteer firefighter.

Therefore, only forest or wildland firefighters continue to be excluded from the presumptive legislation. The wording was changed from:

Exclusion

This policy does not apply to firefighters who are scheduled to work an average of less than 35 hours per week or fire investigators, or volunteer firefighters, or forest or wildland firefighters.

to:

Exclusion

This policy does not apply to forest or wildland firefighters.

The requirement for workers to be full-time firefighters was therefore removed from the “Prescribed Circumstances” section, and the position of fire investigator was added:

Prescribed Circumstances

The worker must have sustained the heart injury while, or within 24 hours of

• Attending a fire scene in the performance of his or her duties as a full-time firefighter or fire investigator; or
• Actively participating in a training exercise that is related to his or her duties as a full-time firefighter or fire investigator and that involves a simulated fire emergency.

These changes apply to all decisions made on or after November 4, 2009.

23-02-01, Cancers in Firefighters and Fire Investigators

The language in this policy was revised to reflect the changes in O. Reg. 253/07 “Firefighters” as amended by O. Reg. 423/09, expanding the presumptive legislation for prescribed cancers to part-time firefighters, volunteer firefighters and fire investigators. The title of this policy was therefore changed from “Cancers in Full-Time Firefighters” to “Cancers in Firefighters and Fire Investigators.”

The following text, indicated in boldface, was added to the Law section:

Primary cancers of the brain, bladder, kidney, colon/rectum, ureter, esophagus, and primary-site non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and three specified leukemias are prescribed cancers under Ontario Regulation 253/07 as amended by Ontario Regulation 423/09 (the Regulation) for the purposes of subsection 15.1 (4) of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (the Act).

If a full-time, part-time or volunteer firefighter or a fire investigator suffers from and is impaired by one of these prescribed cancers and meets the conditions related to duration of employment and age outlined in the Regulation, the disease is presumed to be an occupational disease due to the nature of the worker’s employment, unless the contrary is shown.

The significant changes in the “Guidelines,” section under the heading “Inclusion,” reflect the expanded application of coverage, and the revised text mirrors O. Reg. 253/07 as amended by O. Reg. 423/09. The wording was changed from:

Inclusion

This policy applies to workers who are full-time firefighters as defined in Section 1 of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 who are scheduled to work an average of 35 hours or more per week.

to:

Inclusion

This policy applies to

• workers who are full-time or volunteer firefighters as defined in Section 1 of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997
•  part-time firefighters, defined as a worker who is a firefighter and is not a volunteer or full-time firefighter
• fire investigators, defined as

• a worker to whom the Fire Marshal appointed under subsection 8(1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 has delegated the duty to investigate the cause, origin and circumstances of a fire, or
• a worker who was an inspector appointed under subsection 2(4) of the Fire Marshals Act before that Act was repealed by the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997.

For the purpose of the policy, the term "firefighter" refers to a full-time firefighter, a part-time firefighter or a volunteer firefighter.

As a result, only forest or wildland firefighters continue to be excluded from the presumptive legislation:

Exclusion

This policy does not apply to firefighters who are scheduled to work an average of less than 35 hours per week or fire investigators, or volunteer firefighters, or forest or wildland firefighters.

In the “Prescribed Duration of Employment” section, the “full-time” requirement for firefighters was removed and “fire investigators” were added. The policy also clarifies that prescribed workers who may work in more than one capacity over the same period of time can count that time only once in order to meet the years of service eligibility requirement:

Full-time firefighters Firefighters and fire investigators with the minimum years of eligible Ontario service for the prescribed cancer are presumed to have a work-related occupational disease. The eligible years of service is the sum of all employment periods as a full-time firefighter or fire investigator from the date of hire until the date of diagnosis. If a worker serves in more than one capacity as a full-time, part-time or volunteer firefighter or fire investigator in the same period, this period will only be counted once towards the eligible years of service. For cancer of the colon or rectum (i.e., colorectal cancer), there is an additional requirement of obtaining the medical diagnosis of disease prior to age 61.

In the same section, the term “Regulation 253/07” is replaced by “The Regulation” in the introduction to the chart outlining the minimum durations of employment for each of the prescribed cancers covered.

The “Presumption and its Rebuttal” section replaces the reference to “Regulation 253/07” with “O. Reg. 253/07 as amended by O. Reg. 423/09.”

As was the case for full-time firefighters when this legislation was first passed, part-time or volunteer firefighters and fire investigators, or their survivors, can refile previously denied WSIB claims or establish new claims, with no time restrictions, as long as the disease was diagnosed on or after January 1, 1960.

This policy applies to all decisions made on or after November 4, 2009.

18-01-02, Benefit Dollar Amounts – Accidents from 1998

This policy was updated to reflect O. Reg. 454/09, Prescribed Temporary Indexing Factor. It provides for a temporary indexing factor (the “general indexing factor”) of 0.5% to be applied for 2010, effective January 1, 2010:

Law

…

O. Reg. 454/09

For the purposes of s.51(5) and s.52(1.3) of the Act, a temporary indexing factor of 0.5 percent shall be applied for 2010. This is effective January 1, 2010.

For compensable workplace accidents that took place on or after January 1, 1998, the 0.5% increase has been applied to the following benefits for 2010:

• the minimum payment for full loss of earnings
• the loss of retirement income benefit
• non-economic loss benefits, and
• the maximum annual earnings covered for accidents or diseases occurring between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2010.

The annual insurable earnings ceiling for 2010 is $77,600 – a 4% increase from 2009. The WSIB has provided its explanation for this increase on its web site at: http://www.wsib.on.ca/en/community/WSIB/ArticleDetail?vgnextoid=f27ce35c819d7210VgnVCM100000449c710aRCRD.

The “alternate indexing factor” of 0.4%, based on the Consumer Price Index, has also been applied to the following benefits for 2010, for compensable workplace accidents that took place on or after January 1, 1998:

• survivors’ benefits, and
• minimum burial or cremation expenses.

18-01-03, Benefit Dollar Amounts – Accidents before 1998

This policy was updated to reflect O. Reg. 454/09, Prescribed Temporary Indexing Factor. It provides for a temporary indexing factor (the “general indexing factor”) of 0.5% to be applied for 2010, effective January 1, 2010:

Law

…

O. Reg. 454/09

For the purposes of s.51(5) and s.52(1.3) of the Act, a temporary indexing factor of 0.5 percent shall be applied for 2010. This is effective January 1, 2010.

The 0.5% increase applies to lost earnings due to accidents or diseases that took place before April 1, 1985 until December 31, 1997.

Revisions published January 5, 2010

Revisions to five WSIB policies were published on January 5, 2010. Changes are indicated by boldface font.

13-01-02, Workwell Program

Minor editorial changes to the text under the Law heading were made to more closely mirror the language in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997. The wording was changed from:

The WSIB may increase or decrease the premiums otherwise payable by a particular employer in such circumstances as the WSIB considers appropriate including the following:

• in the opinion of the WSIB, the employer has not taken sufficient precautions to prevent accidents to workers or the working conditions are not safe for workers, or,
• the frequency of work injuries among the employer's workers and the accident cost of those injuries are consistently higher than that of the average in the industry in which the employer is engaged.

to:

The WSIB may increase or decrease the premiums otherwise payable by a particular employer in such circumstances as the WSIB considers appropriate including the following:

• If, in the opinion of the WSIB, the employer has not taken sufficient precautions to prevent accidents to workers or the working conditions are not safe for workers.
• If the frequency of work injuries among the employer's workers and the accident cost of those injuries is consistently higher than that of the average in the industry in which the employer is engaged. 1997, c. 16, Sched. A, s.82.

In the Guidelines section under the heading “General,” the reference to “and/or rate groups” was added to clarify that some employers may be classified in more than one rate group, depending on the nature of their business:

Workwell identifies employers with particularly poor accident records and/or high accident costs compared to their rate group and/or rate groups, or who have a history of non-compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and encourages them to improve their prevention programs.

The heading “Identification of employers” in the Guidelines section was changed to: “Identification of employers for a Workwell Evaluation. ” In the text of this section, the WSIB has clarified that a Workwell audit triggered by health and safety / injury statistics pertaining to even just one of an employer’s rate groups, in cases where an employer’s business activities involve more than one rate group, can lead to a Workwell audit of the employer’s entire business:

Identification of employers for a Workwell evaluation

The WSIB determines whether an employer is a candidate for a Workwell evaluation by considering any of the following

• the number and rate of Ministry of Labour workplace orders that have been issued and the degree of compliance with those orders,
• the type of order and the severity of the contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,
• prosecutions initiated for failure to comply with Ministry of Labour orders,
• injury frequency information,
• injury cost information,
• severity of injury information,
• compliance with first aid regulations,
• complaints or referrals from workers or other parties, or
• any information concerning deficiencies or mitigating activities related to an employer's health and safety measures.

The information received from these various sources is reviewed and assessed by the WSIB's Workwell Program. When reviewing and assessing injury frequency and/or injury cost information, the WSIB adopts a comparative approach by evaluating an employer's record relative to the record of other employers of a similar size and industry. This comparative approach is applicable to any and/or all of an employer's rate groups; all of an employer's business activities are subject to evaluation.

These changes apply to all Workwell evaluations with a notification date on or after January 1, 2010.

15-01-02, Employers’ Initial Accident-Reporting Obligations

The changes to this policy clarify that the special rules for the handling of infectious disease claims are restricted to those involving needle stick injuries as opposed to those involving other infectious diseases for which the WSIB has separate policies or practices.

When discussing the rules in cases where an employer does not need to report a work-related injury, “(see below)” was replaced with “through needle stick injury”:

There are special rules if the worker is exposed to, or it is suspected that the worker has been exposed to, an infectious disease through needle stick injury.

A new section called “Reporting of Diseases” was added to clarify the employer’s responsibility to file a Form 7 with the WSIB if a worker claims he/she developed an illness/disease as a result of workplace exposure(s), just as would be done for a traumatic injury:

Reporting of diseases

If a worker is claiming to have developed a disease as a result of workplace exposure, an employer is required to report to the WSIB as previously outlined under the section entitled "When notice is required".

The former “Exposure to infectious diseases” section now falls under the above new “Reporting of diseases” section, with changes related to specifically identifying needle stick injuries as the means by which compensable infectious diseases are acquired:

Exposure to infectious diseases through needle stick injury

Some employers, such as hospitals, follow a surveillance protocol (a procedure for testing and monitoring) when a worker has been exposed to, or is suspected of having been exposed to, an infectious disease through a needle stick injury. These employers must maintain records of the incident, and any testing and monitoring.

If a worker of an employer that follows a surveillance protocal [sic] tests negative for exposure to an infectious disease hrough a needle stick injury, the employer is not required to submit an accident report. However, if the worker tests positive for an infectious disease, or requires any type of treatment related to the incident, the employer must report to the WSIB.

If a worker tests negative, but claims an emotional or anxiety-related response following the accident, the employer must report the accident.

In cases where HIV infection is suspected, the employer must report the accident if a health care practitioner provides a post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) (see 23-01-01, Post-exposure Prophylaxis for Occupational Exposure to HIV).

If it is suspected that a worker has been exposed to an infectious disease through a needle stick injury, but the worker chooses not to participate in the surveillance protocol, the employer must report the accident to the WSIB.

Employers who do not follow a surveillance protocol must report when a worker has been exposed to, or is suspected of having been exposed to, an infectious disease through a needle stick injury.

The following three examples were removed from the above section:

Example (Accident report not required)

Potentially infected blood from a patient splashes on the arm of a hospital worker. The worker is tested for exposure to infectious diseases and the test results are negative. Although the hospital must keep a record of the incident, it does not have to submit an accident report to the WSIB.

Example (Accident report required)

While disposing of a used syringe, a worker suffers a puncture wound. The worker is tested for exposure to infectious diseases, and follow-up tests are positive for Hepatitis C. Even if the worker’s doctor does not recommend any immediate treatment, the employer must submit an accident report to the WSIB.

Example (PEP [post-exposure prophylaxis ] required)

While purifying the HIV virus from a culture medium, the contaminated medium is splashed over an open wound on the worker’s forearm. The worker is given a PEP. Once the worker receives the PEP, the employer must submit an accident report to the WSIB.

The first example described an incident that does not require the employer to file a Form 7. The second involves a needle stick injury and is therefore covered by this revised policy. The third is covered by OPM Doc. No. 23-01-01, “Post-exposure Prophylaxis for Occupational Exposure to HIV,” to address claims in which “there is a percutaneous, mucous membrane or non-intact skin exposure to material known to be infective for HIV”:

http://www.wsib.on.ca/en/community/WSIB/OPMDetail?vgnextoid=d22dc0d9ca3d7210VgnVCM100000449c710aRCRD.

Claims in involving SARS and the H1N1 virus are addressed on a case-by-base basis. You can read the WSIB’s separate positions on these illnesses at http://www.wsib.on.ca/en/community/WSIB/230/ArticleDetail/24338?vgnextoid=faf1e35c819d7210VgnVCM100000449c710aRCRD and http://www.wsib.on.ca/en/community/WSIB/230/ArticleDetail/24338?vgnextoid=7d9ce35c819d7210VgnVCM100000449c710aRCRD respectively.

18-01-05, Table of Rates

The following rates were increased:

• escort fee (to $82/day from $76/day)
• guide and support dog allowance (to $968.24/year from $964.38/year)
• independent living allowance (to $3,574.34/year from $3,560.38/year)
• personal care allowance -- general, personal and skilled attendant rates (to $10.25/hr, $13.19/hr and $19.35/hr from $9.50/hr, $11.99/hr and $19.20/hr, respectively, and
• burial expenses (to a minimum of $2,699.41 from $2,688.66).

The bookkeeping fee was removed from the “personal care allowance” category and now stands alone, but was not increased.

The fees for professional and non-professional witnesses have been removed from the Table of Rates altogether as the Appeals Branch is now responsible for setting, administering and maintaining these fees. The fees will be added to the WSIB’s “Appeal System Practice and Procedures Guide” (http://www.wsib.on.ca/files/Content/AppealsAppealsPP/AppealsP&P.pdf), which is currently under significant revision and soon to be released. There are no changes to these fees for 2010. The WSIB’s announcement regarding this change is at: http://www.wsib.on.ca/en/community/WSIB/230/ArticleDetail/24338?vgnextoid=f7c1e35c819d7210VgnVCM100000449c710aRCRD.

18-01-06, Redirected Benefit Payments

The only change to this policy was an editorial correction removing the reference to s. 107.2 from the “Legislative Authority” heading.

24-01-01, Hearing Fees and Expenses

This policy has been deleted. As mentioned above, the Appeals Branch is now responsible for setting, administering and maintaining all fees and expenses related to WSIB hearings. According to the Appeals Branch, the change is likely due to the fact that it is the only area in the WSIB to which those fees are relevant.

In the future, the Appeals Branch will conduct an external survey of marketplace costs to ensure the fees continue to be appropriate. In the meantime, all witness fees and related expenses (travel, accommodation, meals, etc.) that were included in OPM Doc. No. 24-01-01 and the Table of Rates in 2009 will remain the same throughout 2010. The WSIB’s announcement regarding this change is at: http://www.wsib.on.ca/en/community/WSIB/230/ArticleDetail/24338?vgnextoid=f7c1e35c819d7210VgnVCM100000449c710aRCRD.

Revisions Published October 14, 2009

Here are the changes that were made to 10 WSIB policies that were published October 14, 2009.  They involved corrections, for the most part.  The only policies with substantive changes are the first two, regarding access to claim file information.  Changes are indicated by boldface font.

21-02-04, Disclosure of Claim File Information to Worker or Employer Representatives

Several changes were made to reflect the Law Society Act licensing requirements for worker and employer representatives.  In the Definitions section, “authorized representative” was changed from:

Authorized representative means any person, firm or organization that has the worker’s or employer’s consent to represent him, her or it in relation to a WSIB claim file.  Such representatives include, but are not limited to

to:

Authorized representative means a person, firm or organization that has been licensed under the Law Society Act, or is exempt from the Law Society Act licensing requirements, and who has the worker's or employer's written consent (authorization) to represent him, her or it in relation to a WSIB claim file. Such representatives include, but are not limited to

Also in the Definitions section, “informal representative” has been changed from:

Informal representative means a friend or family member who helps the parties (usually workers) gain information about a claim.

to:

Informal representative means a friend or family member who helps the workplace party gain information about a claim, but does not charge a fee for this service.  

21-02-06, Disclosure of Claim File Information to Health Care Providers, LMR Providers, and Research Entities

There were many changes to this policy.  The new policy is more specific about the types of information that can be shared with/by different individuals/entities involved in the WSI system.  It also enables workers to obtain copies of the information that has been collected about them.  This policy applies to all decisions relating to the disclosure of claim file information that were made on or after October 14, 2009.

The definition of “secondary service provider” was broadened from outlining the types of services provided (“aptitude testing, vocational testing and vocational training/new skills acquisition”) to the types of organizations providing LMR services/programs:

Secondary service provider means a person, group of persons, or firm that provides services to injured workers at the request of an LMR service provider. Such secondary service providers include, but are not limited to

“Subcontractors” were added to the list of groups/individuals who may have access to personal information in limited circumstances:

All claim file information is considered personal information under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and may be disclosed in limited circumstances in accordance with various exceptions listed in FIPPA. These exceptions permit disclosure of personal information to health care providers, labour market re-entry (LMR) service providers, secondary service providers, subcontractors and research entities, (for the purposes of this policy collectively known as “WSIB service providers,”) where

The definition of “subcontractors” that was therefore added to this policy states:

Subcontractor means a person, group of persons, or firm that has a contract with an LMR service provider for the performance of LMR assessment services. Such assessment services include but are not limited to

Note that some of the tasks performed by “subcontractors” are actually those that were previously covered under the former definition/role of “secondary service providers.”   

A new section addressing “Disclosure to LMR service providers” outlines the types of personal information they require:

Disclosure to LMR service providers

Examples of appropriate disclosure to an LMR service provider for a collection purpose or a consistent purpose are where personal information is disclosed to the LMR service provider for the purpose of allowing the LMR service provider to perform an LMR assessment and/or complete an LMR plan. The personal information disclosed in such circumstances would normally include the worker's

Whereas the old policy outlined the rules surrounding disclosure by LMR service providers and secondary service providers together, the new policy has one section addressing disclosure by service providers, and a separate section regarding disclosure by secondary service providers, subcontractors and health care providers.  The rules for LMR service providers are stricter, permitting access to personal information only to those members of their staff who require such information to fulfill their role, rather than relying on a blanket confidentiality policy for all staff of an LMR provider.  The new policy also says the worker can have direct access to all of the information included in the service provider’s records about him/her:

Disclosure by LMR service providers

All of the contractual agreements that the WSIB has entered into with its LMR service providers contain terms that require all LMR service providers to

Upon the request of the worker, LMR service providers are authorized to provide the worker with direct access to all of the information contained in the service provider's file for the worker, including direct access to his/her Vocational Evaluation report or Psycho-vocational Evaluation report. The LMR service provider must then notify the WSIB that access to such information has been provided and, if requested to do so by the WSIB, provide the WSIB with a copy of the information.

If an LMR service provider receives a request for information concerning a worker from an employer or any other person, such request must be directed to the WSIB. The WSIB then discloses or withholds the information based on who is making the request, and the purpose for which the information is being requested. 

The section regarding disclosure to health care providers was reworded to reflect that NEL assessment physicians and REC centres require information that enables them to more broadly perform assessments / evaluations – with a new focus on supporting ESRTW for the REC Centres – rather than to simply determine entitlement / ongoing entitlement to benefits as the former policy stated.  The new section says:

Disclosure to health care providers

Examples of appropriate disclosure to health care providers for a collection purpose or a consistent purpose are where personal information is disclosed to

In the “Note” section below that, however, the term “regional evaluation centre” was replaced with “NEL assessment physician” so that paragraph now reads that the latter will receive only “relevant” portions of the worker’s health care info, rather than all of the worker’s health care information for consideration when doing a NEL assessment:

NOTE

How much information should be disclosed in any given case will depend largely on who is receiving the disclosure, and the purpose for which it is being disclosed. For example, disclosure to a treating health care provider may include entire health care reports, while disclosure to a NEL assessment physician would only include relevant portions of the health care information. 

Rules surrounding disclosure by health care providers are added to the new policy (they did not exist in the old one) and are the same as those for subcontractors (a new party recognized in this revised policy) and secondary service providers (who were formerly required to follow the same rules as those for LMR service providers).  The new section states:  

Disclosure by secondary service providers, subcontractors and health care providers

Secondary service providers, subcontractors and health care providers that provide reports to the WSIB and/or to LMR service providers are required to follow the disclosure rules that apply to them. If a worker requests a copy of his or her reports(s) directly from any of these persons or entities, in most cases such disclosure rules do allow the person or entity to disclose his, her or its report(s) to the worker, upon the worker's request.

17-06-03, Independent Living Devices

The following section was removed, so severely impaired workers are no longer entitled to reimbursement for independent living devices if they live in an institution:

Exception – for workers not receiving the allowance
Generally, devices provided under this policy must cost $250 or more.  This rule does not apply to devices requested by those severely impaired workers who are not entitled to an independent allowance because they live in an institution.  These workers may request independent living devices of any value under this policy.

15-04-02, Psychotraumatic Disability

The reference to “03-03-03 dated October 30, 1990” was added to the Document History section.

15-04-03, Chronic Pain Disability 

The reference to “03-03-05 dated August 22, 1990” was added to the Document History section.

15-04-04, Chronic Pain Disability Rating Schedule

The Application Dates were changed to reflect the WSIB’s practice of not placing a limit on entitlement for CPD.  The sentences were changed from “This policy is effective from March 27, 1986 to January 2, 1990 and applies to both temporary and permanent disability benefits” to “This policy applies to all accidents prior to January 2, 1990, and to entitlement periods starting from March 27, 1986.  (See Retroactivity)”  

18-03-07, Loss of Retirement Income Benefits (Accidents on or after January 1, 1998)

In the section pertaining to work-related deaths prior to age 65, the reference to “see Tab 20, Survivors” was changed to “see section “Survivors” in the Operational Policy Manual (OPM):

Death before age 65 — work-related

If a worker who is eligible to receive an LRI benefit dies before age 65 of a work-related injury or disease, the WSIB pays the supplementary pre-retirement death benefit and survivor benefits, see section "Survivors" in the Operational Policy manual (OPM), to

18-04-17, Loss of Retirement Income Benefits (Accidents from January 2, 1990 to December 31, 1997)

In the section pertaining to Survivors’ benefits, the reference to “see Tab 20, Survivors” was changed to “see section “Survivors” in the Operational Policy Manual (OPM):

Survivors’ benefits

Anyone receiving WSIB survivor’s benefits is not eligible to receive an LRI benefit or pre-retirement death benefit.

For more information on survivors’ benefits, see section "Survivors" in the Operational Policy manual (OPM).  

19-01-04, Job Search Assistance

A policy (18-03-02, Payment of LOE Benefits) that had been incorrectly provided as a cross reference in the Benefits section was removed:

Benefits

If workers participate in the job-search phase of a VR plan, they are eligible to receive benefits while co-operating in all aspects of a Labour Market Re-entry (LMR) plan. The benefits payable depend on the accident date (see 18-06-02, Calculating Temporary Partial Disability Benefits; 18-04-11, Supplement for Programs and LMR Plans Before and After 24 Months; or 18-07-10, Pre-1990 Pension Supplements).

19-03-02, LMR Assessments

Two policies (15-06-05 and 15-06-02) provided as cross references appeared in the wrong bullets and had to switch places to appear correctly as:

Assessment not provided

The WSIB does not generally provide an LMR assessment if the worker returned to suitable employment through ESRTW but later stops working due to