Understanding WSIB: What Types of Injury or Illness Can I Claim For?
No one goes to work expecting that they will get hurt, but every year, thousands of Ontarians are injured or made sick by their job. Last year, more than 225,000 claims were registered, and WSIB paid out more than two billion dollars in benefits, which include health-care costs, lost wages, compensation for permanent injuries, and survivor benefits, among others.
With so many different types of workplaces and jobs, potential injuries are almost endless, but in the context of workers compensation, all injuries generally fit into one of five categories. In this post, we’ll review those categories and then in upcoming posts, we’ll do a deep-dive into each.
There are five main types of workplace-related conditions that you can make a claim for.
- Accidents: injuries that happen as a result of a single incident. Some common types of injuries are sprains, strains, fractures, cuts or lacerations, concussions, bruises, and contusions.
- Disablements: injuries that happen as a result of ongoing actions on the job. Some common types of disablements are repetitive strain injuries, vibration disease, and tinnitus.
- Psychological conditions: psychological conditions that result from workplace stress, or as a result of a workplace injury. Some examples include: chronic mental stress, traumatic mental stress, depression, and anxiety disorders.
- Occupational disease: a disease or condition caused by exposure to chemicals or substances at work. Some examples of occupational disease are certain cancers, asthma, asbestosis, and silicosis.
- Noise-induced hearing loss: full or partial hearing loss as a result of being exposed to loud noise on the job. This is different from traumatic hearing loss, which is a type of injury generally brought on by a single event, like head trauma or concussion.
There’s also a sixth main category of claim: survivor’s benefits. When a worker dies at work or as a result of their job, the worker’s spouse, children or other dependants can claim these benefits. Contacting a WSIB lawyer can help you navigate the legal complexities of WSIB claims.