More than 60,000 full-time equivalent workers are employed in the long-term care sector in Ontario and more than 14,000 in British Columbia. How do the rates and nature of their workplace injuries compare? How do experience rating programs and other policy initiatives in the two provinces influence injury prevention and disability management practices within their respective long-term care sectors? Answers to these questions are starting to emerge from a study examining trends in workers' compensation claim activity and benefit expenditures for work-related health conditions among employees in the long-term care sectors in British Columbia and Ontario from 1998-2007.
IWH President and Senior Scientist Dr. Cam Mustard will discuss the preliminary findings of this two-year study, which is now at its mid-point. There appear to be important differences between Ontario and British Columbia in the duration of disability arising from work-related injuries among workers in long-term care. Early findings suggest longer durations of disability among workers receiving wage replacement benefits in British Columbia, and a strong temporal trend towards shorter disability durations in Ontario.
