糖心Vlog

There are three words in Alberta that tend to invoke misguided stress in both workers and employers: Workers鈥� Compensation Board (WCB). Why is it that employers and workers feel this way about WCB? A lot of this is tied to misconceptions about what WCB does. From the employers鈥� perspective, WCB costs them time and money. On the other hand, workers believe that by claiming WCB, they will be viewed as lazy. In fact, 鈥�37% of Americans believe individuals who claim workers鈥� compensation are using it as an excuse to get out of work.鈥� This shocking statistic perpetuates misinformation about the WCB process.

Seeing this misinformation, Anthony Butkovic realized that he could make a difference. A man of many talents, Anthony started his career in the field of disability management at MacEwan University before moving over to the workers compensation industry. This provided Anthony with experience managing claims across much of Canada. In 2011, Anthony brought all his experience to the safety field by starting After seven years with WCBConsulting.ca, Anthony gained additional experience as an assistant coach with the CFL鈥檚 Montreal Allouettes. His unique coaching experience paired with years of working in different provinces allows Anthony to bring a unique perspective to educating people about WCB.

Every course is based around providing guidance to clients so they can make good choices, create good outcomes, and handle any situation. This central philosophy was developed when Anthony was researching what WCB training was available. He found that most training was heavily theory based, but many lacked practical training. Talking with safety professionals, they reiterated the need for a step-by-step learning approach to walk clients through every aspect of the WCB process.

Anthony鈥檚 experience as a coach allowed him to accomplish this step-by-step learning in his own unique way. Rather than listing facts and hoping workers understand, he coaches and mentors them through the WCB process using practical examples. He believes, 鈥渒nowledge isn鈥檛 good enough; you need to be able to apply it in certain situations.鈥� This isn鈥檛 limited to online courses; he also offers one-on-one coaching to health and safety professionals. The goal is for everyone to understand all facets of WCB claims management to the point where they can be self-sufficient with any claims they encounter.

Just as practical experience was missing, he also found that most safety training was directed at preventing and responding to incidents while post-incident activities were left in the dust. He believes that 鈥渙ngoing support for claims management has always been missing. Industries spend millions on preventing a workplace incident, but many overlook the expenses that come into play after one occurs.鈥� Anthony believes pre- and post-incident training needs to work together for a safety program to succeed. Post-incident training also needs to be designed around follow-ups. In many other courses, individuals learn about WCB during the class, but often forget key information days, weeks, or months later. To remedy this, Anthony leaves communication options open for students that have finished a course. This way, if there was anything that was missing in the course, his students can reach out for more information.

Developing courses around WCB provided Anthony insight about the biggest challenges facing employers and workers when it comes to claims. So far, he鈥檚 found that many people just do not fully understand how WCB works. To someone without the training and experience that Anthony has benefitted from, the entire procedure can seem overwhelming. To tackle this challenge, WCBConsulting.ca delivers their content from the perspective of an employer or health and safety representative. If the content is presented in their point of view, employers can immerse themselves in the subject manner by thinking about how claims would work for their business. Then when an incident occurs, everyone can trust that the situation is handled correctly.

This trust is what Anthony focuses on fostering through his courses. Anthony explains that, 鈥渢here is a way to do claims management that takes care of one another, you can achieve all your financial goals from the employer鈥檚 side and give a level of trust for the injured workers. Through these courses, we can correct the myths about WCB and give the worker what they are legally entitled to in the most cost-effective way.鈥� When a health and safety professional is fluent in how the system works, it allows them to be in a situation that provides confidence. They can adjust to whatever challenge they are faced with in the field because they understand the basic principles of claims management and trust that the correct steps are taken.

When asked about promoting safety, Anthony explains, 鈥渢hat companies tend to preach health and safety to their workers, but not always follow through and the most successful companies are the ones that follow through from A to Z.鈥� In addition, companies often look at the financial cost of an incident while overlooking its impacts to workers. If everyone is not looked after, friction and distrust can occur between both parties. Workers and employers may start to only look out for themselves and not cooperate with each other 鈥� further complicating the WCB process. These complications can all be avoided by adopting a business culture that looks out for both the workers鈥� well-being and the business鈥� bottom line.

To new workers entering the workforce, Anthony advises to ask about your health and safety program, the company culture, and what you should do if you get injured. It is important to learn as much as you can before an incident occurs. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 act rationally when they are scared, so educate the people around you,鈥� Anthony explained. 鈥淚n the event that an accident happens, you should know what your options are to respond in a positive and effective way.鈥�

WCBConsulting.ca鈥檚 top three keys to success:

1. Seek feedback from health and safety professionals. When you do this for 15 years, and you see the hardships, trials, and problems that companies go through, you can鈥檛 help but notice patterns. Interviewing health and safety professionals about what challenges they are facing helped to shape WCBConsulting.ca鈥檚 business strategy.
2. Learn about safety in all jurisdictions and identify the basic principles. When you notice what the recurring principles in every jurisdiction are, you can make a universal program and reach a wider target audience.
3. Recognize what is needed. Knowledge is power. But if you don鈥檛 know how to apply it, you can lose that power.

To an employer, or worker, WCB may seem like a daunting task if you鈥檙e unfamiliar with the process. However, WCBConsulting.ca works hard to ensure people get all the right information they need to make this a smooth process. Anthony鈥檚 diverse knowledge and involvement in the WCB industry has allowed him to identify the basic principles of claims management and relay that to employers. Through education and knowledge sharing, employers can navigate their way through any WCB process in a manner that helps their workers get healthy without unneeded financial costs.