Apprentices

How are you covered in case of an accident?

by John J. Ihnat

 

If you’re an apprentice, do you know what would happen if you’re injured or become ill during your program?

It’s a complex issue. At different times during your apprenticeship, different providers insure you against injury and illness.

When you’re working on a construction site, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) considers you an employee of the contractor, and covers you as a worker.

When you’re not on a construction site—when you take a so-called “classroom course”—the WSIB does not consider you to have an employer, and does not cover your insurance.

What the WSIB considers a “classroom” can be quite unlike what is normally considered a classroom. Many training facilities look just like construction sites. You learn hands-on skills with tools, equipment, and construction materials. The chance of injury is real.

In each contract with the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU)—the government body responsible for apprenticeship programs in the province—all such “classroom” training facilities must agree to have third-party liability insurance.

As well, most apprentices are on federal Employment Insurance during the classroom part of their training and, in principle, if injured would receive disability payments under EI.

One question is how the private insurance company would respond if you’re injured.

Suppose you’re an apprentice who works during the day for a contractor (you’re not covered by EI) and you take trade school classes at night. The school must have liability coverage. But if you’re injured and for some reason don’t meet the insurance company’s criteria—or if the payout is insufficient—you have nothing to fall back on. If you disagree with the judgment on your case, it will be up to you to fight for your claim.

In the past, the WSIB covered apprentices during the entire course of their program—both the on-site and classroom portions. It considered the MTCU the employer for the in-school component. In July 1993, however, the WSIB determined that there was no justification in law for this practice and stopped covering classroom training.

This has become an issue in the industry. Pat Dillon, Business Manager of the Ontario Building and Construction Trades Council, argues for full WSIB coverage for all registered apprentices.

“ Trade school programs are an extension of the workplace. By definition, they’re a mix of instruction and actual workplace practices. This isn’t an abstract education. Apprentices have signed a contract with an employer. They can get injured. Electricity in the training centres can kill you just the same as on a jobsite. I don’t understand why the WSIB changed its practice.”

One of the issues facing the industry is who, specifically, would pay for this insurance? Should the burden apply to an individual school, a particular employer, or an entire WSIB rate group? Whose premiums would go up if an apprentice was injured?

Labour and management are talking about solutions. The Provincial Labour-Management Construction Health and Safety Committee formed a subcommittee to examine this issue. Construction Safety will keep you posted.