First

Session, 48th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2016

BILL 59

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

WORKPLACE HEALTH, SAFETY AND COMPENSATION ACT

Received and Read the First Time .................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ..........................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE EDDIE

JOYCE

Minister of Service

Newfoundland and Labrador

and

Minister Responsible for WorkplaceNL

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Bill would amend the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation

Act to include presumptive cancer coverage for firefighters and volunteer

firefighters.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE WORKPLACE HEALTH,

SAFETY AND COMPENSATION ACT

Analysis

Part VII.1 Added

PART

VII.1

PRESUMPTION RESPECTING FIREFIGHTERS AND VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS

92.1

Definitions

92.2 Presumption

92.3 Medical aid

92.4 Application

92.5 Regulations

2. Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cW-11

as amended

1. The Workplace

Health, Safety and Compensation Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 92 the following:

PART VII.1

PRESUMPTION RESPECTING FIREFIGHTERS AND VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS

Definitions

92.1 In

this Part

(a) "fire department" means a fire

department organized under the Municipalities

Act , 1999 , the City of St. John's Act , the City of Corner Brook Act and the Regional Service Boards Act, 2012 and also includes a fire

department established by an Inuit Community Government under the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement Act ;

(b) "fire and emergency services

employee" means a person employed with the department responsible for fire

and emergency services and whose duties include

(

i) investigating the cause, origin or

circumstances of fires,

(ii) firefighting, or

(iii) delivering fire investigation or firefighting

training;

(c) "firefighter" means

(

i) a member of a fire department,

(ii) a member of an industrial fire department, or

(iii) a fire and emergency services employee;

(d) "industrial fire department" means

an organization established by an employer to protect the employer's premises

where the nature of the employer's business creates specific hazards for which

specialized firefighting training or equipment is required;

(e) "listed disease" means

(

i) a primary site brain cancer,

(ii) a primary site bladder cancer,

(iii) a primary site colorectal cancer,

(iv) a primary site esophageal cancer,

(

v) a primary leukemia,

(vi) a primary site lung cancer,

(vii) a primary site kidney cancer,

(viii) a primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma,

(ix) a primary site testicular cancer,

(

x) a primary site ureter cancer, or

(xi) a primary site breast cancer; and

(f) "volunteer firefighter" means a volunteer

member of a fire department or brigade admitted by the commission under

section

15 of the Workplace Health, Safety and

Compensation Regulations and considered to be a worker.

Presumption

92.2

(1) Where

a worker who is or has been a firefighter or a volunteer firefighter is

diagnosed with a listed disease and is as a result disabled or his or her death

caused by a listed disease,

(

a) the listed disease is presumed to be due to

the nature of his or her employment as a firefighter or volunteer firefighter unless

there is evidence to the contrary; and

(

b) the worker or his or her dependents are

entitled to compensation as if the disease were an injury and the date of disablement

were the date of injury.

(2) The presumption in subsection (1) applies to a

worker

(

a) who has been a firefighter or a volunteer

firefighter for at least the cumulative period of service prescribed in the regulations;

and

(

b) who has been regularly exposed to the hazards

of a fire scene, other than a forest fire scene, throughout that period.

(3) In addition to the requirements in subsection

(2), the presumption for primary site lung cancer applies only to a firefighter

or volunteer firefighter who has not

smoked a tobacco product in the 10 years immediately before the date of the diagnosis.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the

presumption for primary site colorectal cancer does not apply to a firefighter

or volunteer firefighter who is diagnosed with primary site colorectal cancer

after the age of 61.

Medical aid

92.3

(1) There

is no entitlement to medical aid under this

Part in respect of a firefighter or

volunteer firefighter diagnosed with a listed disease where the medical aid is

a service insured under the Medical Care

and Hospital Insurance Act , the Hospital

Insurance Regulations and the Medical

Care Insurance Insured Services Regulations.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) affects the commission's

authority under this Act to request information, records and reports and to provide

payment for them as authorized by this Act.

Application

92.4 The

presumption in

section 92.2 applies to

(

a) a firefighter who is diagnosed with a listed

disease on or after December 14, 2015; and

(

b) a volunteer firefighter who is diagnosed with

a listed disease after the coming into force of this Part.

Regulations

92.5 The

Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations

(

a) prescribing the cumulative period of service

for the purposes of paragraph 92.2(2)(a);

(

b) prescribing the documents, books and records

that may be required by the commission respecting firefighters and volunteer

firefighters; and

(

c) generally, to give effect to this Part.

Commencement

2. This Act comes into force on January 1, 2017.

Queen's Printer