Adjudication of Occupational Disease Claims

Policy Purpose

Occupational diseases are frequently attributable to both work-related and non-work-related factors.

This policy outlines how the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) adjudicates occupational disease claims under The Workers Compensation Act (the Act). More specifically, it:

• identifies the two different adjudicative approaches that are used to determine whether a worker's occupational disease was caused by work;
  describes how the rebuttable presumption for occupational disease works;
•  outlines the types of evidence the WCB will gather to assess and determine causation in the circumstances where the presumption does not apply; and
• determines the timing of impairment ratings for occupational diseases claims.

Policy 44.20.50.20, Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, provides specific guidance on the adjudication of noise-induced hearing loss claims, which are a particular type of occupational disease claim.

Policy 22.00, Decision Making, outlines the key legal principles and concepts that must be applied when making decisions under the Act.

A separate occupational disease presumption may apply to cancer claims for firefighters and Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) personnel. The primary site cancers are listed under subsection 4(5.2) of the Act. Manitoba Regulation 160/2005, Minimum Periods of Employment and Non-Smoking — Firefighters and OFC Personnel Regulation, lists the minimum periods of employment for each cancer and the minimum period of time a worker must be a non-smoker.