Child Welfare Workers with Occupational Stress Injuries: A Content Analysis of Workers’ Compensation Legislation in Canada

The purpose of this content analysis was to examine workers' compensation legislation in Canada to determine whether and how well the legislation meets the needs of front-line child welfare workers (CWWs) who have sustained an occupational stress injury (OSI). Following an extensive review of the literature pertaining to the psychological risks inherent in child welfare work and a content analysis of workers' compensation legislation in Canada, we make two arguments: (a) the nature of child welfare work and organizational factors uniquely place CWWs at risk for OSIs, and (b) when psychologically injured, CWWs navigate a workers' compensation system that can fail to recognize their injuries as work-related and compensable. As front-line workers responsible for ensuring the safety of children, CWWs are frequently exposed to both acute and chronic traumatic stress, which places them at significant psychological risk correlative to that of workers currently included in the category of "select workers" (first responders and other public safety personnel) in workers' compensation legislation. We recommend child welfare organizations do more to mitigate the psychological risks of CWWs and that within workers' compensation legislation, CWWs be included in the category of "select workers" and thereby receive compensation on par with their "select worker" counterparts. The nature of child welfare work and organizational factors place CWWs at risk for occupational stress injuries but when injured, they navigate a workers' compensation system that can fail to recognize the injury as work-related and compensable.