Testicular Injury Suffered During Training Covered by Workers? Comp

As part of fall protection training, a worker donned a safety harness and was suspended in it for about 35-40 seconds. The next day, he felt pain in his right testicle. He went to the first aid attendant, who found his testicle to be swollen. The attendant sent the worker to the clinic, where the doctor gave him a painkiller. When the pain persisted, he went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a bruised and swollen right testicle. His workers’ comp claim for the injury was accepted, but the employer appealed. The Appeals Commission found that the worker’s testicle was injured while he was attending mandatory training on safety harnesses. As a result, the injury was the result of an employment hazard, and was suffered at a time and place consistent with the obligations and expectation of his job. So the testicular injury was compensable [2017-0198 (Re), [2017] CanLII 18777 (AB WCAC), April 6, 2017].