Examining changes in injuries submitted as no-lost-time claims in Ontario between 1991 and 2006

Institute for Work & Health
481 University Avenue, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario

Peter Smith
Institute for Work & Health

Since 1991, Ontario has seen a divergence in workers’ compensation claim rate trends for injuries that do and do not require time off work. While claims requiring time off work (lost-time claims) have reduced by 46 per cent, claims that do not require time away from work after the day of injury (no-lost-time claims) have remained relatively stable (declining by 9 per cent). At this plenary we will report the results of a recently completed project at the Institute for Work & Health which sought to examine: the factors associated with an increased risk of no-lost-time claims (between 1991 and 2006); trends in the health-care costs associated with no-lost-time claims (between 1991 and 2006); and compare the nature of injury and event leading to injury associated with no-lost-time claims during the introduction of a mandatory experience rating program in the province of Ontario (by extracting injury information from 9,250 no-lost-time claims over four different time periods (1991, 1996, 2000 and 2005). Results related to these objectives will be presented and implications for occupational health and safety injury surveillance and workers’ compensation policy will be discussed.

About presenter

Photo of Peter Smith

Dr. Peter Smith is president and senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto, and a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Prior to moving into the president's role in January 2022, Smith was IWH's scientific co-director.

About IWH Speaker Series

The IWH Speaker Series brings you the latest findings from work and health researchers from the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and beyond. For those unable to attend, the recorded webinar of most presentations in the IWH Speaker Series are made available on its web page within a week of the event.