The latest Health and Safety bulletin just came out from the District Health and Safety office. It contained a good poster on First Aid. One thing missing due to space limitations was to fill out a Form 6a.
I know in the heat of the incident it is the last thing you want to do. Time with your class is precious and the incident or injury seems minor. Yet completing a Form 6a is important. I wont regal you with a series of stories of people who ignored this step and then WCB refused to honour a later claim. Nor will I recount the little injuries that became big problems later on for employees. Suffice it to say, completing the form, even if you never have another issue stemming from the problem, is like an insurance policy. It establishes when the injury occurred. If you require time off, instead of using your sick time, it will be classified as WCB time and they pay for your absence. If rehabilitation or physiotherapy is required, WCB will pay for it.
Some members have encountered resistance or obstacles put in their face by WorkSafe claim adjusters. Unfortunately this has happened as WorkSafe is not always as supportive as it should be. If you have a claim denied or getting held up by WorkSafe please contact Diane Irvine at the BCTF office. Her contact info is dirvine@bctf.ca or call toll free 1-800-663-9163 and ask for Diane.
Filling out Form 6a also provides the District Occupational Health and Safety Committee with the ability to track trends of incidents / injuries that happen to the various employee groups. This review allows us the opportunity to target certain issues or investigate a particular worksite to create prevention strategies. One reason I am writing this post is due to the number of injuries sustained but no form 6a was completed. In some cases the injury was significant but no further medical assistance was sought out.
Perhaps we teachers are a stoic bunch or we have a habit of putting the needs of others before our own. I implore you to not put off filing out the Form 6a. It might save your life!
