Welcome to the Research Action Alliance on the Consequences of Work Injury

Lived versus statutory versions of work injury and compensation

Principal Investigators: Jaime Guzman

In this project, injured workers will keep journals of their experiences using cell phones to keep a record of their contacts with the compensation board, workplaces, healthcare providers, etc.

The project will provide first-person accounts of how adjudication and eligibility policies and procedures affect injured workers, and how workers' experiences change over time, and how they understand and interpret their actions and those of others. This will be contrasted with the official or statutory process outlined in bylaws, policies and regulations of the Workers' Safety and Insurance Board and in the workplace.

The real-time accounting, along with interviews right after the contacts, will provide a clearer understanding of events, experiences and consequences in the early stages of injury and compensation.

The project comes from injured workers' needs to have their views and experiences known and recognized. A thorough description of situations, aids and barriers, as perceived by injured workers, will provide them and their advocates with insights to help the future injured worker community to work more effectively for changes in the system.