Insurance

High school students placed in off-campus work experiences are covered by Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) insurance through their school authority. To ensure a student is covered, employers must sign a work agreement with the school authority before work begins.

According to the Alberta Off-campus Education Handbook, a work agreement must include:

• clearly outlined parameters regarding a student’s off-campus education work schedule (i.e., dates, days, and times a student is expected to participate in the off-campus learning experience)
• additional health and safety parameters where a student is required to work outside of the recommended maximum hours outlined in the Hours of Work section of this handbook
• the appropriate written consent

Click here to see a sample work agreement.

What to do in case of an incident

According to the Alberta Off-campus Education Handbook, an employer has the following responsibilities in the case of an injury:

If a student is injured at the work site, the employer must immediately contact the off-campus teacher if

• the student requires medical treatment beyond first aid; and/or
• the injury results in lost time away from the work site.

Note: Even if WCB notification is not required, the employer’s onsite supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the injury is recorded in the employer’s incident/injury record book.

Injuries are to be reported to WCB within 72 hours; thus, the employer must alert the off-campus teacher as soon as they learn about the incident so that the off-campus teacher can submit the appropriate paperwork in the required time frame

The employer, in collaboration with the off-campus teacher, will determine whether an Employer Report of Injury form needs to be submitted by the employer to WCB-Alberta.

For more information on response to incidents, please reference the Alberta Off-campus Education Handbook.