Operational Policy Manual
User Guide
The Operational Policy Manual (OPM) contains policies that the WSIB uses to make decisions about worker and employer rights and obligations, employer premiums, benefits, and other related workplace safety and insurance issues.
Three policy branches develop policies for the OPM
- Benefits Policy,
- Medical and Occupational Disease Policy and,
- Revenue Policy.
How the manual is organized
Every policy in the manual has a unique six-digit number that is broken down into three categories: chapters, sections, and subjects.
The first two digits, e.g., 12 - Coverage, represent chapters. When a policy document is selected, the chapter appears in the top left box in the green policy header. The chapter also appears in the left-hand navigation pane.
The chapters are further divided into one or more sections, represented by four digits, e.g., 12-01 - Employer coverage. When a policy is selected, the section name appears in the bottom left box in the green policy header. Section names also appear in the left-hand navigation pane when you expand the sections [to expand, click on the plus sign (+)].
Sections are then divided into subjects or actual policy documents. Each document has a unique six-digit number, e.g., 12-01-01 - Who is an employer? The names of the policy documents appear in the bottom middle box in the green policy header. The policy document numbers appear in the bottom right box in the green policy header.
Document headings
Application date
Most policies are derived from the current legislation, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997. These policies generally apply to claims with accident dates on or after January 1, 1998; however, some policies may apply to claims with accident dates prior to January 1, 1998 because of transitional provisions contained within the current legislation.
There are also some policies which may relate to prior Acts. For example, a policy may be pertinent only to pre-1990 claims, i.e., claims with an accident date before 1990. Another policy may apply to post-1990 claims, but before 1998. Other policies may apply to all claims, regardless of accident date.
To make it easier for the user to determine whether a policy applies, the WSIB has been specific in its wording in the Application Date section. For instance, a policy will apply to decisions made on or after a certain date, and where appropriate, for claims occurring on or after a certain date. This information is located in the top row of the green policy header, on the last page of the print friendly version, as well as toward the end of the policy document.
Published date
The published date refers to the date when the document is published for release on the web and in hardcopy. It is located in the top row of the green policy header as well as on the last page of the print friendly version. The WSIB releases new or revised policies as soon as possible after they are minuted or when the new policy goes into effect in the event of a prospective application date. The electronic version allows for quicker viewing than the hard copy version due to the time required to print and mail the hard copies.
Document History
To aid the user in keeping track of the previous published versions of the policy, the last published date of the current policy is listed. In some policies all previously published versions and dates are listed. If the policy was previously published with a different number, only the last published date of the old policy number is listed.
How to locate policies in the OPM
Search feature
To use the search bar in the header of the page, key in the term(s) you are looking for, click on <SEARCH> or press <Enter>. You can key in single words, phrases, or document numbers. When performing a key word search, adding an asterisk to the end of your search term will yield more results, e.g. rehab* will find all instances of the term rehabilitation in policies.
Table of Contents
To find the Table of Contents, click on the "Table of Contents" heading in the green horizontal band at the top of the window. The Table of Contents lists all policies found in the manual.
Left-hand navigation pane
When you display policies in the manual, the window is divided into two panes. The policy is displayed in the large window on the right side of the screen. The sections of the manual are displayed on the left side of the screen. If you click on the plus sign (+) beside the section names, the sections will expand into subsections.
Subsections in the left-hand navigation pane are underlined. This means that the subsections can be expanded into a list of subjects or names of policies by clicking on the underlined subsection.
Tables of Concordance:
The WSIB’s Operational Policies had been published in two separate manuals since 1998. In the fall of 2004, the WSIB published a new edition of the OPM that consolidated both of these manuals into one, and reorganized and renumbered some policies. Users of the OPM may find the following tables of concordance to be a valuable tool for locating policies that may have been renamed or renumbered in the new manual.
Table of Concordance - Old to New
Table of Concordance - New to Old
For your added convenience there are also tables of concordance of previous legislation for those who want to cross-reference sections of the current Act with previous Acts:
Table of Concordance, WSIA 1997 to WCA 1990
Table of Concordance, WCA 1990 to WSIA 1997
Table of Concordance, Workers’ Compensation Act 1980 to 1990
Cross references
Policies that reference other policies and forms within the text are linked. For example, policy number 19-01-03 refers to another policy in the manual, "see 19-02-02, The Goal of ESRTW and the Roles of the Parties." To go directly to the other policy, click on that policy number, (in this example, you would click on "19-02-02"). To go back to the original policy (e.g. 19-01-03), use the <Back> button on your browser.
How to navigate in a policy document
Policies generally consist of a law and/or policy statement, guidelines, an application date, and specific legislative references. To move directly to one of these headings, click on the blue headings in parentheses at the top of each policy document.
To move from a heading to the beginning of the policy, click on the "Back to top" link or scroll using the vertical bar on the right side of the window.
Home
When you click on <OPM Home> on the left side of the green horizontal bar, you are taken to the landing page (the first page) for this manual.
Print
To obtain a print-friendly version of a policy, click on the <Print friendly format> link on the right side of the green horizontal bar. The print-friendly version will contain the policy’s application date and published date in the footer.Back to top |