Employer Did Not Discourage Workers From Reporting Accidents To WSIB: WSIAT

A worker who delayed reporting an alleged workplace accident has claimed that his employer discouraged employees from reporting, but the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal has rejected that claim. The decision illustrates the importance of maintaining a practice of promptly reporting accidents to the WSIB.

The worker worked with a roofing company.  He filed a claim with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board on April 3, 2008 alleging that he was injured in a slip-and-fall accident at work three months earlier.  He claimed that he had told his supervisor who "made light" of the situation and laughed about it.

Interestingly, the worker claimed that reporting of accidents and filing of WSIB claims was  discouraged in the roofing industry, and that he feared losing his job if he filed a WSIB claim.  He said that the failure of his employer to acknowledge that his injuries were work-related was the result of its general practice of discouraging