PAGE 10 ,

TERR*.CE HERALD, TERRACE B.C.

‘MONDAY, JUNE 21, 1971

Injury victim helps
rehabilitate others

There are few people who
know more about the problems
of injured workmen than the
injured workman himself. At
feast, that is what the
Workmen’s Compensation
Board thought when it sent Tim
Coyne to Terrace a3 Regional
Rehabilitation Consultant in
July, 1970.

Several years before, Tim
had been terered in a blasting
accident. He had undergone all
the rigours of an injury and the
subsequent rehabilitation at the
WCB Rehabilitation Clinic in
Vancouver.

Once an injured workman,
now a Rehabilitation
Consultant, Tim knows both
sides of the compensation story.
His area extends from Prince
Rupert to Fraser Lake.

But as Tim himself is first to
admit, his case is not
extraordinary. He is one of
thousands of injured workmen
who have undergone treatment
at the Clinic and received
assistance from the
Rehabilitation Services
Department in finding a more
suitable occupation.

Since physical restoration
and vocational rehabilitation
are two of the important
ingredients of a comprehensive
compensation programme, the
WCB has established a system:
of early referral which provides

for the screening of all time loss
claims to determine those that
require rehabilitation services..
Whatever services are provided
are determined on the basis of
each case and its individual
problems.

The rehabilitation people aid
the workman to conquer his
disability. Special
strengthening exercises, along
with weights and balances,
massage, ultrasonic
treatments, and hydrotherapy
are all part of the programme.
If a man is io be fitted with an
artificial limb, then he must be
carefully trained i in its use, (Try
turning a door knob with a pair
of pliers held in one hand and
you know something of the
problems faced by a man who is
learning to use an artificial
arm).

A workman’s employable
assets are assessed and his
return to his former employer is
negotiated. If he ean not
perform his pre-accident job,
other employment with the
same firm is sought. If this is
not available, the
Rehabilitation Consultant tries
to locate employment in a
related or alternative industry.
If job retraining is necessary,
the Board will assist the
workman in learning a new
skill.

Qnee a man is able to

BCGEU demands
job insurance

VANCOUVER - The B.C.
Government Employees’ Union
has demanded the provincial
government ensure that about
6,000 of its employees aren't
deprived of unemployment
insurance coverage by pending
federal legislation.

BCGEU general secretary
John Fryer said today a letter
from the union to Premier
Bennett requests appointment
of a Cabinet committee to study
the impact on provincial
employees of unemployment
insurance laws slated ta take
effect next year.

“Our concern is that some
6,000 provincial employees may
be left without unemployment
insurance,” Fryer said.

Under existing legislation,
provincial governments are
able to cover some of their
employees with unemployment
insurance. In B.C., about 6,000
ferry, highways and forestry
workers have unemployment
insurance coverage.

Proposed changes in the
Unemployment Insurance Act
would compel provincial
government to cover all or none
of their employees.

Fryer said the union has also
asked the federal government

- toamend the new legislation hy

‘ eliminating the “‘all-in or all-
out’? formula for provincial
employees.
“The union's telegram to
Prime Minister Trudeau and
other party leaders says many
of the6,000 B.C. Employees now
covered by unemployment
insurance are hired on a
temporary or casual basis.” . -

“These employees are highly
vulnerable to seasonal
unemployment,” Fryer said.
“Por them, the alternative to
unemployment insurance is the
prospect of going onto welfare.”
| If Ottawa refuses to amend
the legislation, the provincial

government will be forced to’

drop the coverage for the 6,000

emiployees or put all of its 25,000
Civil Service and departmental
employees on unemployment
insurance, Fryer said.

Hesaid another option open to
the provincial government
would be to make special
arrangements to protect the
6,000 against loss of income
through unemployment.

“One of the ways this could be
achieved would be to give
permanent status to daily-rate,
casual and temporary
employees in the government
service,"’ he said.

The proposed UIC changes
establish a scale of preferred

unemployment insurance
premiums for provincial
employees.

Starting January 1, 1972, a
provincial employee earning
$5,000 a year would pay $1.35 a
month.. These preferred rates
would increase over a three-
year period, rising to $3.25 a
month on a salary of $5,000
annually.

One million
need help

One million children and’
youth up to 19 years of age in
Canada today need attention,
treatment, and care because of
emotional and learning
disorders. The numbers far
surpass the help available.
charges are evident. But before
anything can be done, there has
to be a change in public
attitude. They must want and
demand change. One million:
children, Doesn’t that bother,
you? Support. the Canadian
iMental Health Association by’
joining your local Branch. .

‘overcome or at least cope with

his disability, he is exposed to
the Clinic's Industrial
Workshop complex, one of the
largest in Canada. Depending
on his former skills and his
disability, a man can practice
welding, sheet metal,
carpentry, upholstering, or
electrical or mechanical work.
He can work In the automotive
shop where his skills as a
mechanic are refined. Hé can
be placed in the building
construction shop where he will
build a prefabricated house. He
ean work in the logging area
where he will scale a spar tree
until he has mastered ‘the
technique. He can try his hand
in the shoring and cement
mixing shop. There are
multitude of ways in which a
man may relearn an old skill or
develop his physical tolerances
so that he is able to compete for
suitable employment.

The Rehabilitation Clinic in
Vancouver treats more than 60
workmen a day. Ground has
recently been broken for the
new Leslie R, Peterson
Rehabilitation Centre for
injured workmen in Richmond,
B.C. The Centre will include a
residence and a convalescent
hospital. The residence will be
used as a hostel for injured
workmen from outside the
Vancouver area who currently
must make their own eating and
sleeping arrangements while
attending the Rehabilitation
Clinic for treatment. It will also
offer recreational as well as
treatment facilities.

The hospital section of the
complex will house 70 patients;
eventually, as many as 300 may
be cared for there. The
residence will house 200
workmen, but it can be
expanded to accommodate 600.

In 1969, the Rehabilitation
Services Department handled
4353 cases. During 1970, the
Department expanded its staff
and provided services to 4153
workmen - an increase of over
300 percent.

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in Terrace.

Tim Coyne is WCB Regional
Rehabilitation Consultant for
~the Skeena-Vulkley Valley area.

He is stationed at the WCB
office in Terrace,

loise

Neise~an insidious thing that
breeds deafness—gradually-so
slowly in fact that the person
may not realize it untit he is
almost totally deaf.

. That is how noise: was

described by - Al‘ Riegert,
director of the Workmen’s
Compensation Board mobiie
safety unit.

Riegert was in Terrace with
the .mobile safety unit van
Monday holding classes on
noise and its effect, attended by

some 30 Terrace area industrial

management personnel whoare
concerned with noise levels at

their places of employment. .

Riegert said the response in the

Terrace area was gratifying |:

and many companies have done
a great deal of work towards
controlling noise levels either

through engineering devices or
| ear protection devices, - j

Riegert said the classes were
primarily an information. and:
instruction Program * for

industrial persons responsibie
‘for the noise control programs

‘within their industries. -

Although hearing loss claims

. form only a minor percentage of.

the 100,000 claims a year
submitted tothe WCB Riegert

‘believes that nonetheless it is a

major problem in industry.

_Part of the reason for the low
percentage of claims is that
many men through lack of

‘adequate information write

Build your

TT

deafens

| hearing losses off to old age or
natural Causes, he said,

Besides this men are still able
to work in .many cases after
they ar are almost Aotally deaf, he

‘ The purpose of the tour ts
primarily to inform industry of
regulations set by the WCB that
‘any noise levels beyond .an
established. level must. be

controlled either by engineering

devices or, by ear protection. *

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"BERT: ARBOUR

facts,

491) WALSH.‘

. Phone 635-5847, or 635-6496,

Terrace, B.C,

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