Mental health supports expanded for frontline health workers in B.C.

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – More support is now available to 911 dispatchers, nurses and health-care aides across British Columbia dealing with work-related trauma. Changes taking effect April 16 put mental health disorders on the same level as cancer.

Labour Minister Harry Bains says these changes are updating supports first introduced in 2005.

“It was largely for certain cancers and certain health disease and injuries,” he says. “Last year, we expanded that to include mental health injuries and illnesses for the first responders.”

He adds it’s important to recognize how stressful it can be for someone working with a dementia patient to overcome job-related trauma, but the priority is: “To ensure that our workplaces are [the] safest in the country to begin with, so we avoid these illnesses and injuries in the first place.”

Bains says the updated Mental Disorder Presumption Regulation could help as many as 85,000 frontline workers fast-track claims for support from WorkSafeBC.

“They get the help when they need it so that we can help them from progressing into a much more deeper and much more serious illness such as PTSD, and that they are treated with respect and dignity.”

He says the goal is to make sure workers who face stressful situations on a daily basis get treated in a timely manner, so their illness doesn’t get worse.

“Sometimes, they are overwhelmed by the trauma that they face and they need help themselves, so the idea here is that if you have presumptive coverage for them, when they apply for the WCB coverage or for the claim, that they will be recognized that this is work-related rather than having to go through this re-traumatization of proving that it is work-related.”

These amendments to the Workers Compensation Act have been in the works for about a year. Similar supports for firefighters were announced earlier this month.