100 Years WCB

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2016 5 YEARS 1915: "Fighting Jack" It was 1915 when John W. Wilton, also known as "Fighting Jack," was appointed MLA of Assiniboia. Wilton was outspoken in his criticism of an earlier 1910 workers' compensation law that he thought favoured employers. He was particularly offended by the way the law often allowed for workers or their widows to be intimidated into accepting an unfair buyout instead of proper compensation. In January 1916, Wilton introduced the Workmen's Compensation bill. Referred to as the father of The Workmen's Compensation Act (the Act), he is credited for single-handedly shepherding the Act through the Manitoba Legislature. I t was a Monday morning in 2009, when plumber Darryl Steckly's life changed forever. It only took a moment. Steckly was performing a rou- tine chore, disposing of a broken toilet he'd left in his van the previous Fri- day. But when he squatted down to lift it from the van, he felt his hand go numb, as if he had hit his funny bone. "I thought, 'I must have pulled a muscle.' When I looked to see what I had done I could see my wrist was complete- ly severed and my hand was just dangling there," he recalls. "So I went into the shop and got some help." Steckly knew he was in trouble, but somehow managed to remain calm while he was taken to hospital for emergency treatment. It was a week before he could get into surgery to have the damage repaired. The injury was devastating. Steckly was unable to work — but he was able to turn to the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) for help. The WCB is a workplace injury and dis- ability insurance agency that is funded by employers. It provides services and bene- fits to injured workers that may include income replacement, healthcare costs, retraining for alternate employment and other benefits. Seventy-six per cent of the Manitoba workforce is covered by the WCB, and Steckly was fortunate to be among that group. He was going to need all the help he could get, starting with physical rehabilitation. "The rehab process was not so much intense as it was a frustrating experience," he says. "I expected to make more progress faster. It's frustrating to lose control of your hand — you know, you take it for granted feeling everything. To this day I can't pick up a grain of sand." After six months, Steckly was making progress, but he still hadn't fully recovered. "I went back to work and that was even more frustrating because where I was great at my job before, now I couldn't do it," he says. "There were a couple of days where I just broke down and cried to myself. "It's tough because you're angry at yourself because you should be able to do these things that were so easy before, but now they are not so easy and it's so frustrating." It wasn't long before Steckly realized that returning to plumbing simply wasn't a realistic goal. He didn't have the level of dexterity and sensation he needed in his hand to perform the work. That meant it was time to consider Vocational Rehabilitation. Vocational Rehabilitation is a process of creating a Return to Work plan that will fit the needs of the worker within the guiding principles of the WCB. When it became clear that career retraining was his best option, the WCB asked Steckly what he wanted to do. "They said, 'Come to us with an idea,' and I came to them with the idea of be- coming a power engineer," he says. "It aligns so well with being a plumber, I figured that I could apply some of the knowledge I already had to becoming a power engineer, and they agreed with me." The WCB was able to expedite his ap- plication to enter a two-year program at Red River College. He returned to school and graduated with honours, but he still faced a major hurdle. "The hardest part after all that was get- ting back into the workforce, trying to find a job," he says. The WCB stepped in again. Steckly was able to take advantage of a full range of resources to assist in his job search, including a mock interview. "They make up an imaginary job for you and you apply for that job," he says. "They help you with cover letters, re- sumes, all kinds of things — basically they give you full access to all the things that will help you find a job because they want you off the books." It was a long process, but Steckly even- tually landed a job at Gerdau Ameristeel as a power engineer. He says he could be considered recovered, with 80 per cent use of his hand and minimal effects on his working ability. "The Workers Compensation Board's job is to work with you as best they can to get you back to work, and in my case, it worked out really great," he says. While the recovery process was frus- trating, Steckly says he didn't have any issues with his experience with the WCB. He found that working in partnership with the WCB and accepting guidance and direction was crucial to a successful outcome. "The best advice I could give to some- body who has suffered an injury at work is to act as if compensation is now your job," he says. "Every time they told me to do some- thing, I just did it and it was my experi- ence that they're looking out for your best interest." ■ The injury was devastating. Steckly was unable to work — but he was able to turn to the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) for help. It's tough because you're angry at yourself because you should be able to do these things that were so easy before, but now they are not so easy and it's so frustrating. " "

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