Over the last decade in Ontario, the number of total days per lost-time claim compensated by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has increased dramatically, as has the rate of claims remaining active and open. In other words, there has been an increase in claim duration. The trend is in contrast to a declining claim rate experienced over much of the 1990s.
Why has there been this increase in the persistence of lost-time claims? Is it due to WSIB policy changes in January 1998 under Bill 99? Could changes in worker demographics, injury characteristics or workplace characteristics account for the increase? IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Sheilah Hogg-Johnson is conducting research to find out. In this presentation, she will discuss this research and what she has found so far.
