I have a similar problem with my legs , hips and back, I slipped on a piece of tin that was under snow, at the base of a stairwell going into a chipper at a pulp mill, to this day I remember every instance of that moment 17 years ago. The injury was treated as a knee injury due to inability of walking properly and Doctors diagnoses from description of accident. Two and a half years later, after being forced back to work by WCB, although a recurrence/ re-injury, it was treated as a new claim, this has happened four times now due to my back.
My physio-therapist at the time realized my hip was out of place, she used heat pads and massage therapy that day, even worked overtime, propped up my knees ,told me to relax and within minutes I felt a movement then a pop in my hip,immediately the pain was gone, however my lower back or hip never received any care while I was involved with the WCB’s investigation of my injury, all I received was two cortisone shots a week ( under my knee cap) from the WCB referred Doctor and WCB funded rehab where I was only treated for a knee injury only. All the proper care I recieved was from my family Doctor and his referrals, unfortunately I learned all this the hard way three claims later.
I still have hip , leg’s and back pain daily, just the sharp constant pain is somewhat relieved.

Moral is for newly injured person’s : see only your personal doctor and the other professionals he /she refers you too.

I have a similar problem with my legs , hips and back, I slipped on a piece of tin that was under snow, at the base of a stairwell going into a chipper at a pulp mill, to this day I remember every instance of that moment 17 years ago. The injury was treated as a knee injury due to inability of walking properly and Doctors diagnoses from description of accident. Two and a half years later, after being forced back to work by WCB, although a recurrence/ re-injury, it was treated as a new claim, this has happened four times now due to my back.
My physio-therapist at the time realized my hip was out of place, she used heat pads and massage therapy that day, even worked overtime, propped up my knees ,told me to relax and within minutes I felt a movement then a pop in my hip,immediately the pain was gone, however my lower back or hip never received any care while I was involved with the WCB’s investigation of my injury, all I received was two cortisone shots a week ( under my knee cap) from the WCB referred Doctor and WCB funded rehab where I was only treated for a knee injury only. All the proper care I recieved was from my family Doctor and his referrals, unfortunately I learned all this the hard way three claims later.
I still have hip , leg’s and back pain daily, just the sharp constant pain is somewhat relieved.

Moral is: see only your personal doctor and the other professionals he /she refers you too, not them.

I don’t know how wcb gets away with stuff. 3 years ago I injured my shoulder and neck catching a pork loin (i cut meat) my doctor sent me to a specialist who told me I had straned my shoulder (tendonitus) and with care it would get better, but he was very worried about something accuring in my neck, and wanted an mri on it. Of course wcb wanted me to see their doc, so i did. Altho by the time i saw him i could raise my hand over my head (with some pain) he ignored my specialist and orderd an mri on my shoulder only. When done it showed tendonitus, and they sent me back to work. All the time i mentioned that there was something wrong with my neck. After doing “motified duties” i was back to work full time. Compo then told me i was cut off untill more medical evidence was produced. Of course they would not find it or send me for mri on my neck. I have been working with pain ever since. 3 weeks ago i finally got my mri on my neck, guess what, I have two bulged discs both pinching nerves. Great now I have to start the fight all over again. Oh Ya when I was dischared from the compo doc, he told me my pain was all in my head and that once you are injured it’s not uncommon to have imaginary pain, in other words youre not in pain you just think you are. You should have the right to sue (not a good speller)

I hurt my lower back over a year ago at a mattress retailer that I was employed with for nearly 3 yrs. I have been on WCB…they started me in a re-training course for a new job. I still have constant back pain…can not sit..stand or walk fo too long…now they say I have to get a job ASAP or be cut-off …they say WCB doesn’t pay for CHRONIC BACK pain that my doctor writes that i HAVE
COULD ANYONE HELP ME…I NEED TO KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO

I was hurt in 2005 at work. A severe neck injury that left me in chronic pain. I too suffer chronic headaches, neck, shoulder, arm, back, upper chest, hip & leg pain as a result. I am told by specialists that this will never go away and likely get worse with time. I am taking pain medication prescribed by my GP and have been for almost 3 years. The pain medication is a narcotic and does have side effects. My dosage has slowly increased over time as I need the medication to curb my chronic pain and as we all know, we build up a tolerance over time and that is perfectly normal.
Jumping to the present, I was awarded a small amount from Worksafe BC and told they deemed me fully capable of working full time and supporting myself with no substantial loss of income. I was instructed to lie or not inform any potential employer about my medication. The fact is that I am not able to support myself any longer. I applied for and was awarded CPP federal disability in spite of the fact that I was attempting to work, which automatically disqualifies me from CPP disability. Try explaining that would you. I believe I was awarded the CPP disability because the federal government is fully aware of the fact that I am no longer employable. A fact which Worksafe BC refuses to admit as of yet.
I want to say something very important to all injured workers who must take narcotic pain medication for chronic pain. Under the workers compensation act – workers responsibilities – section 116, subsection (d): we are required not to be impaired by any alcohol or drugs in any workplace and if you look on youtube for worksafe due diligence you will find a Worksafe BC produced video and at around 10:25 into that video it is explained very clearly that it is unacceptable for any worker to be impaired in any workplace and there is NO EXCUSE for being impaired in the workplace. An employer under the law must show due diligence in the workplace and there is no way under the law that any employer can hire someone impaired by narcotics and show due diligence in following federal and provincial law and the workers compensation act. It is illegal for any employer to hire anyone under the influence of narcotics for any reason.
So, isn’t it interesting that Worksafe BC would instruct me to not inform an employer that I am under the influence of, and have been for years and will likely for the rest of my natural life be under the influence of, a class A narcotic in large dosage. Luckily I recorded every conversation I ever had with any employee of Worksafe BC so I have this digitally recorded. Under federal, provincial, the workers compensation act, occupational health and safety, law no employer can legally hire me or anyone like me.
This means that Worksafe BC is willing to instruct me to lie to an employer. They are also willing to ignore all laws and neglect to inform me the injured worker of these facts. Why?
Federal CPP disability did not instruct me to lie or disallow me a full federal CPP disability pension when they received my application and confirmed my injury status as permanent with no hope of recovery and lets not forget the narcotic pain medication which is prescribed by my GP for my chronic pain which is ever so important in this situation.
If you are in a similar position to me I would urge you to look into these details very closely.
I am not through with Worksafe BC. They are about to discover that I know the truth of the situation. They are in fact responsible for a full loss of earnings pension by law. They have done their best to deny me this pension by misinforming me or not informing me at all about the laws regarding due diligence and the fact that I cannot be employed while impaired by narcotic pain medication. They have done their best to attempt to remove themselves from the responsibility that surrounds an injured worker like me concerning a permanent loss of earnings pension. I am sure I am not alone in this perpetration of misinformation that has been the stance of Worksafe BC concerning ability to work or be employed in Canada.
Every day I am and will be in pain for the rest of my life. In chronic pain and suffering the disability a permanent neck injury brings along with it. The little quality of life that I experience is afforded me via the ingestion of narcotic pain medication each and every day. My only hope is to stabilize some reasonable amount of quality of life and to be told I must go out into the workforce and continuously re-injure myself day after day seems somewhat negligent if you ask me or anyone aware of my situation or anyone like me. Negligent, yes, negligent.
So now we know. Worksafe BC is willing to ignore the law in order to save paying out a relatively small amount of wages to an injured worker. There is no argument that will stand up to or overcome this fact. Where the federal government has stood up and said this is the law and we must provide you according to the law with a CPP disability pension, they have done so with absolutely no argument and no attempt to avoid the responsibility. Is it not reasonable to expect Worksafe BC to be as honest as the federal government in matters dealing with the lives of injured workers?

Never, never, never be mislead. WorkSafe’s mandate is based on mutual protection for injured workers and employers – but that just flowers growing in manure. Worksafe’s practices do NOT protect injured workers – just their “bottom line”.

Teleclaim System
When you phone your claim in, a WorkSafe employee is supposed to record your statements but what actually happens is they listen then paraphrase your statements. What the WorkSafe employee chooses to include or omit changes the “facts” you present; how they condense your statements changes the “facts” you present. Your claim can be decided before you even hang up the phone from that first call because of HOW your statements are recorded.

This document is one of the most basic elements of your claim: the “facts” it contains are what Entitlement Officers, Case Mangers, Medical consultants and other WorkSafe employees use to assess the validity of your claim. If the “facts” are not clearly, specifically and accurately recorded there you have little chance of changing them when you find out your statements were “re-arranged” by the person who took your Teleclaim – trying to correct misinformation recorded on your Teleclaim at a later date only makes it seem “you are changing your story”.

I have suggested to WorkSafe that injured workers should immediately be sent a written transcript of what the Teleclaim states to ensure the “facts” are correctly presented. Injured workers should be given a set period to respond and a non-response should indicate acceptance. Misinformation should be revised on the Teleclaim (rather than later notes to a claim file that might be missed), the original should be removed from the file and the injured worker should leave with a copy of their revised Teleclaim. This would protect injured worker’s from having their claim determined by the inaccurate recording of their statements by WorkSafe employees.

I consider it a SERIOUS INTEGRITY ISSUE that WorkSafe records information incorrectly then faults the injured worker for trying to correct it.

I believe many claims have their outcomes determined by Teleclaims that do not record information given clearly, specifically and accurately. WorkSafe has never responded to my suggestion so I believe it has been ignored. I suggest that every injured worker who makes a claim should IMMEDIATELY request “Disclosure of their Claim” so they can see for themselves WHAT was recorded by their Teleclaim Application. I also suggest flooding WorkSafe with letters and emails requesting this minor and inexpensive change be made to protect the rights of injured workers. Maybe if everyone that reads this copies it and sends it to WorkSafe from their own email address they might get the message often enough to actually act on it. How about it people – let’s stand up for ourselves!