No lawyer will touch anything as soon as you say you’re at WCB. So the WCB is like a scam to protect employers, it doesn’t protect workers at all.”

McKay worked for Flatlanders Scaffolding, which had been contracted to build scaffolding for repairs at the Island Falls hydroelectric station, near Sandy Bay.

While the scaffolding was being removed, a power plant supervisor asked McKay and his coworker to look at another area to inspect another upcoming project that needed scaffolding. The supervisor left the scene to obtain more information with no instructions other than “not to touch anything,” and McKay began measuring the area.

When he placed his tape measure in the air, the power shot into the tape measure and McKay was hit, setting it on fire. McKay lost 65% of his skin and has undergone multiple skin grafts and physical therapy sessions to recover as best as possible, but he will never be able to work the same as before.

SaskPower pleaded guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. As a result, SaskPower will be fined $500,000 along with a $200,000 surcharge, but none of that money will go to McKay or his family.

The money goes from SaskPower, a Crown corporation, to the Saskatchewan government.

“I don’t understand any of that, so it doesn’t really benefit me in any way. I do not receive anything because I am in WCB, I am not eligible to apply for any type of money. “That surcharge goes to the government, in the same place as the other $500,000.”

During McKay’s coma, his wife Jackie Thoms was approached about signing a waiver with the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) that would give her husband monetary assistance for his recovery, but they had no idea how little that meant. would cover

Because they decided to accept Workers’ Compensation, McKay cannot sue anyone for his accident and has to accept the situation. However, both he and his wife feel they were not adequately informed about what WCB would actually cover.

“I think maybe people should know that as soon as you accept WCB, you are not eligible for anything. No more. I can’t sue anyone. I should be able to sue these guys for this, but I can’t because I accepted WCB and I don’t get any surcharges because WCB pays for all my medical trips and everything, but they don’t pay anything else on me. I guess I’ll get $45,000 or something for all the scars on my body because that’s the most they pay. “I don’t think it’s really worth it, $45,000 for 60% of my body burned and skin grafted, so it’s a little disappointing.”

Thoms has been working closely with WCB for the past two years to make sure her husband gets the financial support he needs to cover travel expenses for his medical treatments, but has found she has to overcome obstacles to get that money. Not only that, but she says many of the policies implemented by WCB are outdated and do not fit her husband’s needs.

“I find a lot of their policies to be very old and outdated, and what I found out the most I found with WCB, I’ve been working very closely with them for the last two years, they’re all in a bubble. Whether you broke your ankle or got seriously injured like (Blayne), it’s all the same. You receive five massages. Period. “It doesn’t matter what happened to you.” Thomas continued:

“But if you slipped and hurt your back and were out of work for two weeks, that’s okay. Five massages is probably all you need. So I would like to see them more individualized based on the actual person’s injuries, not everyone suffering the same thing.”

The McKay family plans to continue advocating for changes to the WCB rules and not only because the accident had a huge effect on McKay’s life, but it also affected Flatlander’s Scaffolding. All Saskatchewan businesses pay WCB for their employees’ insurance, and the rate they pay depends on a number of factors, including how often accidents occur at their workplace.

Since McKay worked for Flatlanders Scaffolding performing contract work for SaskPower, McKay’s burn incident was included in Flatlander’s Scaffolding’s insurance file, which is the company’s only employment incident in its history, but has increased his insurance premiums. 300% safe.

When paNOW last spoke with McKay, he had high hopes that SaskPower would do more to train his supervisors in dealing with contractors to ensure incidents like this don’t happen again, and he hopes they will consider him for a position where can help. in that training.

“It would be nice to get something out of this, but SaskPower contacted me and they said next week they will have something worked out to talk to me about. “Then we’ll see what happens.”

–

[email protected]