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Proposed Amendments Regarding Recognition of Bursitis, Tendinitis and Tenosynovitis as Occupational Diseases
In 2000, the Description of Disease column of Schedule B of the Workers Compensation Act was amended to list specific forms of bursitis, tendinitis and tenosynovitis instead of listing each of these diseases generally. For instance, Schedule B now lists knee and shoulder bursitis, rather than just bursitis.
This change unintentionally created an omission because bursitis, tendinitis and tenosynovitis are now no longer listed generally as recognized occupational diseases, in legislation or policy. Therefore, each time a worker makes a claim for one of these diseases in respect of a body part not listed in Schedule B, the disease must be recognized as an occupational disease by order in a specific case before adjudication of entitlement can proceed.
This is a problem because the order in a specific case method of occupational disease recognition is typically limited to claims involving rarely encountered or unique conditions. It requires a process that is cumbersome and administratively inefficient for handling claims in respect of commonly recognized occupational diseases such as bursitis, tendinitis and tenosynovitis.
The proposed amendments are intended to address the problem that unintentionally resulted from the changes to Schedule B in 2000.
At their meeting on December 12, 2006, the Board of Directors approved the release of a discussion paper with options and draft regulation and policy amendments for stakeholder consultation. Proposed additions are identified in bold.
Discussion paper (PDF 70kb)
There are a number of ways for stakeholders to provide feedback on the options and draft policy amendments:
(a) Comment link:
Through the Comment link below, you will be able to provide immediate feedback by completing an online submission form.
Please note: Once you click the “submit” button at the bottom of the form you cannot access it again to make additional comments. Therefore, if you wish to make detailed comments in the feedback section, you may want to draft your comments using a word processing format and then cut and paste them into the submission form.
Alternatively, submissions can also be submitted as follows:
| (b) | E-mail: | policy@worksafebc.com |
| (c) | Mail: | Policy and Research Division |
| (d) | Fax: | 604-279-7599; or toll-free in B.C. 1-877-279-7599 |
The consultation period will end on February 14, 2007. The Board of Directors will consider stakeholder feedback before making a decision on policy amendments.
Please note that all comments become part of the Policy and Research Division 's database and may be published, including the identity of organizations and those participating on behalf of organizations. The identity of those who have participated on their own behalf will be kept confidential according to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.