- Board Directives and Guidelines (health care) (glasses)
- Health care (glasses)
The issue under appeal was whether the worker was entitled to health care benefits to replace his prescription eyewear, damaged while responding to an emergency call as an advanced care paramedic on November 24, 2020. The worker had removed his prescription bifocal sunglasses in order to don his PPE. At the end of the call, the sunglasses had fallen and one of the lenses was damaged/missing.
The appeal was denied.Section 13(1) of the WSIA and Board policy require that the worker be involved in a work-related accident in order to be entitled to benefits under the insurance plan. The Panel found that there had been no work-related accident as required by legislation and policy for entitlement to benefits. The worker acknowledged that he performed his regular duties with no event occurring to him. Further, OPM Document No. 17-07-01 indicates the following: "To quality for entitlement for prescription eyewear, damaged during a work-related accident, the worker does not have to sustain a physical injury to him/herself. However, the worker must be involved in a work-related accident where a specific external force causes the damage to the eyewear, and the eyewear must either be worn at the time of the work-related accident or be on the person." The policy is clear that the worker needed to be involved in a work-related accident in order to be entitled to receive health care benefits for prescription eyewear. In this case, the ambulance that the worker was driving in was not reported to have been involved in an accident of any kind. There was no evidence that the worker, while in the ambulance, was "…involved in a work-related accident where a specific external force causes the damage to the eyewear."