Roles and responsibilities

Workers who are injured at work need immediate, active treatment at the primary level, with prompt access to other services. This requires the co-operation of the WCB, workers, employers and care providers – mainly primary practitioners.

Because workers are exempt under the Canada Health Act, Saskatchewan Health can’t cover the cost of their treatment. When the WCB accepts an injury claim, we have to pay for the cost of care given to that worker. To prevent financial trouble for workers, care providers bill the WCB for treatment they give to workers. All care providers who treat workers must be accredited with the WCB. See below for frequently asked questions about accreditation.

Care providers who treat WCB customers have the following responsibilities:

• Report all work injuries requiring medical aid, even when a claim has not yet been registered. Failure to report treatment of a work injury goes against Section 54 of The Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013.
• Tell the worker to report the work injury to the WCB and help fill out the Workers’ Initial Report of Injury (W1) online form. This includes giving all reasonable and necessary information, advice and assistance, and providing needed certificates and proofs.
• Let the employer know, directly or through the worker, of any work restrictions due to the injury and an expected date of recovery, to facilitate early transitional return to work with an aim of full work duties when medically safe.
• Keep up communication with the worker, the employer, other health care professionals and the WCB, to support and encourage full return to work when medically safe and to ask the WCB to arrange any advanced services workers may need.
• Follow the reporting requirements set out in the standards of care your professional association has set up with the WCB.
• Give the worker the best care possible.

Workers, employers, care providers and the WCB must work together to prevent work injuries and, when injuries happen, get workers back to work as soon as it is medically safe. Most workers recover and return to their jobs. The best and quickest recoveries happen when the worker gets the right care at the right time.

Working together, the partners will address workers’ medical needs, arrange for meaningful work during recovery and provide benefits.

For more information, see our recovery and return to work page.

The Saskatchewan WCB works with the health care sector to:

• Set WCB standards for some large care provider groups.
• Set WCB standards for facilities treating WCB customers.
• Establish types and frequencies of reports.
• Negotiate fee schedules.
• Accredit care providers and assessment teams.
• Make sure that there are enough rehabilitation centres in the province.
• As requested, help primary practitioners access the earliest available specialist and diagnostic appointments.