The Hazards Of Acting Late

Introduction

The Commission des lésions professionnelles (CLP) (Quebec's employment injuries board), exceptionally sitting as a panel of three commissioners, recently ruled on the interpretation of ss. 327(1) of the Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases (AIAOD).

It is important to remember that when an employment injury arises out of the care received by a worker for an employment injury or the lack of such care (s. 31 AIAOD), ss. 327(1) allows the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) (Quebec's occupational health and safety commission) to impute the cost of benefits due by reason of that employment injury to the employers of all the units. This provision is intended to ensure that the employer does not bear the financial burden of an injury or disease that it could not have possibly foreseen. To use a timely example, if a worker is infected with C. Difficile while in hospital for an employment injury, it is possible