Method

The main source of information for this report were interviews and focus groups with injured workers who have significant disabilities. Project staff also consulted with unions, disability agencies, advocates for injured workers, employers, and staff of the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) of Manitoba.

49 candidates for the study were recruited from non-random samples of injured workers with significant disabilities drawn from two main sources:

• the Workers with Disabilities Project’s network
• a mailing to 199 claimants of the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba

The Workers with Disabilities Project Network

Since its inception in 1992, the Workers with Disabilities Project has developed an informal network of organizations with shared interests in the employment of persons with disabilities. These organizations include labour unions, consumer advocacy organizations of persons with disabilities, service agencies for persons with disabilities, and injured worker advocacy organizations.

According to Statistics Canada, approximately 35 per cent of Manitoba workers are members of labour unions (Akyeampong, 1999), suggesting that a large portion of workers who sustain significant disabilities from workplace injuries and diseases belong to unions. Additionally, injured workers with disabilities sometimes seek services and support from organizations which provide these services and supports to persons with disabilities. Injured workers also sometimes seek assistance and support from injured worker advocacy organizations.

Written information about the project was mailed or faxed to over 100 organizations throughout Manitoba during the first and second months of the project. Project staff subsequently met or had telephone conversations with representatives of:

• 31 unions and other labour organizations,
• 8 agencies that provide services to persons with disabilities,
• 3 organizations of persons with disabilities,
• 4 injured worker advocacy organizations

Some organizations agreed to print articles about the project in their newsletters, but most chose to directly contact members, consumers, or clients they felt would be suitable and interested in participating in the study. Contacts with the WDP’s network resulted in 20 injured workers contacting the study as potential study participants.

Mailing to 199 WCB Claimants

During the second, third, and fourth months of the study (April to June 1999), project and WCB staff discussed various ways the WCB could assist in identifying and inviting claimants with significant disabilities to participate in the study. It was eventually decided to send information about the study to claimants who had:

• initiated claims since 1992
• received Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) awards of 10 per cent or greater
• received or were currently receiving WCB vocational rehabilitation services

The WCB generated a list of 470 claimants who met these three criteria.

At the request of the Specialized Services Unit (“Unit 5”), clients of this unit were not included in this list. Because of WCB concerns that the vocational rehabilitation of some claimants might be negatively affected by participating in the study, this list was circulated to Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) staff for review. During this review, VR staff decided that it would be in the best interest of 271 claimants to remove them from the list. The remaining 199 claimants were mailed an information package inviting them to participate in the study. 29 of the 199 claimants subsequently contacted the project.

Telephone screening interviews were conducted with each injured worker who contacted the project. These interviews gathered information on each candidate’s occupation, injury, disability, and the progress of their vocational rehabilitation and re-employment efforts.

Following these screening interviews, project staff excluded several candidates because they did not have disabilities of the significance this study was addressing. Several others were excluded because they were retired or otherwise not interested in re-employment. Several others declined to participate in formal interviews or focus group meetings. Project staff were subsequently unable to reach several other persons who initially expressed interest in the project.

In total, 34 injured workers with significant disabilities—16 from the WDP network, 18 from the WCB mailing—were accepted into the study.

Gender

Approximately 75 per cent of study participants were men. ^[29]

Age

Approximately 45 per cent of study participants were over 50 years of age. Another 45 per cent were between 35 and 49. Only four participants—all men—were under 35.

Nature of Injury and Disability

The majority of study participants had injuries which resulted in disabilities that restricted their mobility, agility, or coordination (e.g. walking, bending, lifting, grasping). Approximately 25 per cent had back injuries (not including spinal cord injuries). Injuries of the hand, arm, shoulder, feet, ankles, and hip were each represented by at least two participants. Several persons with significant disabilities related to speaking, learning, and thinking were also represented, as well as several persons with disabilities related to psychological functioning (both as the primary “injury” as well as a factor secondary to a physical injury). Several participants were paraplegic or quadriplegic from spinal cord injuries, several had amputations of limbs or extremities, several fell from great heights, and several were struck by heavy falling objects.

No persons with significant hearing or seeing disabilities participated in the study. ^[30]

Most study participants had received lump sum Permanent Partial Impairment (PPI) awards ^[31], but some could not remember or declined to disclose the percentage or dollar amounts. Of those who described their PPI awards, approximately half received awards in the 10-14 per cent range. Approximately one-quarter had awards of 15-50 per cent, and approximately one-quarter had awards greater than 50 per cent.

Pre-injury Employment

Most male participants were injured while working in the construction, mining, or transportation industries. Most female participants worked in manufacturing.

Current Employment Status

At the time of their interviews and/or focus group meetings, approximately 30 per cent of the total sample were employed. All were doing different jobs than they were doing at the time of their injuries. Approximately half were employed by the same employers for whom they were working at the time of their injuries, and half were working for different employers. Almost all had received WCB vocational rehabilitation services.

Another 30 per cent were active WCB claimants who were receiving vocational rehabilitation services, including assessments, aptitude testing, educational upgrading, re-training for new occupations, and/or developing self-employment initiatives.

Another 30 per cent were former WCB claimants who were unemployed when they were interviewed. Most of this group had received WCB vocational rehabilitation services in the past.

Several other participants were not employed, but were not actively seeking work. Some of these were included in the study because they were persons with particularly significant disabilities who had chosen alternatives to paid employment, which the WCB was supporting. A few others in this category were older workers in their late-fifties and sixties who were relatively content to not be working.

The samples of injured workers recruited through the Workers with Disabilities Project network and the mailing to WCB claimants were different in some ways.

Year of Injury

All of the claimants who responded to the WCB mailing were injured between 1992 and 1997. Some of those recruited from unions, agencies, and other organizations had injuries that occurred prior to 1992. ^[32]

Complexity of Case

Most of the WCB sample had relatively straightforward claims for single “sudden onset” injuries. About half of the sample recruited from the project network had complex cases (e.g. multiple accidents/claims, extended onset injuries, medical complications, etc.)

Nature of Injury

Many of the sample recruited from the Workers with Disabilities Project network had disc-related back injuries. Few of the WCB sample had these kinds of injuries. The participants drawn from the WDP network included approximately five persons with spinal cord injuries. None of the persons who responded to the WCB mailing had spinal cord injuries.

Satisfaction

Although most of those who responded to the WCB mailing were not fully satisfied with the benefits and services they had received from the WCB, a significant minority were relatively satisfied. Very few of those recruited through the WDP network were satisfied.

Unit 5 Clients

Four claimants receiving services from the WCB’s Specialized Services Unit were recruited through the WDP network. The mailing to WCB claimants excluded all Unit 5 clients, and subsequent discussions with Unit 5 staff resulted in only one additional Unit 5 client contacting the project.

Appeals

Several injured workers recruited through the WDP network had formally appealed their WCB claims. None of those who responded to the WCB mailing had initiated appeals.