- Aggravation (preexisting condition)
- Delay (reporting injury)
- Injury by accident
The worker, a health care aide in a nursing home, claimed she injured her low back on June 10, 2015 during a patient lift. An ARO decision denied initial entitlement. A second ARO decision denied entitlement under the Aggravation Basis policy. The worker appealed both decisions.
The appeal was dismissed. While a lifting incident did occur around June 10, 2015, the incident did not result in a personal injury to the worker's back. The worker had pre-existing low back difficulties and there was no reliable evidence that the incident caused the worker anything other than transitory pain. The contemporaneous medical and documentary evidence did not establish that the lifting incident made a significant contribution to her low back injury. The Aggravation Basis policy only applies after general initial entitlement principles have been applied to determine initial entitlement. As there was no finding that an accident causing injury had occurred, the Aggravation Basis policy had no application.