2012 Statistics

154 Pages·2013·5.51 MB·English

WorksafeBC
2012

statistics

2012 key statistics
B.C. injured workers1
Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64% 64% 36%
Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36%
Average age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Young workers (age 15–24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,655 (13%)
Older workers (age 55 and over) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9,455 (18%)
Claims
Injuries reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144,865
Claims first paid this year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104,710 41 injured worker
average age
Fatal claims2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Short-term disability claims2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45,145
14 4 , 8 6 5
Occupational disease claims2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,390
Percentage of claims disallowed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 .6% injuries reported
Days lost from work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .9 million
2.9 million
Average time to first payment (from day of disablement) . . . . . . .19 .7 days
Average length of short-term wage-loss benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 .1 days
days lost from work
1 Based on claims first paid for short-term disability, long-term disability, and fatal benefits .
2 These claims represent those that received first payment of benefits .
3
Contents
Contents
Introduction
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Back strain Injury
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries accepted by WorkSafeBC with time loss, 1980–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries accepted by WorkSafeBC with time loss, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Claims with time loss accepted by WorkSafeBC, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Gender 15
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries accepted by WorkSafeBC with time loss, 1980–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Gender distribution of back strain injury accepted by WorkSafeBC with time loss, 1980–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Distribution of employment and injuries between genders, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Estimated injury rate for back strain injury, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Age 18
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries by age group, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries accepted by WorkSafeBC with time loss, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries by age group, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Distribution of back strain injury and all other injuries by age group, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Age distribution of back strain injury accepted by WorkSafeBC with time loss, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Distribution of back strain injury and employment by age group, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Type of incident 23
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries by incident type, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Distribution of back strain injury and other injuries by incident type, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Occupation 25
Proportion of back strain injury relative to all injuries by broad occupation group, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Distribution of back strain injury and other injuries by broad occupation group, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Distribution of back strain injury by individual occupation group, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Industry 29
Distribution of back strain injury and other injuries by subsector, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Subsector distribution of back strain injury accepted by WorkSafeBC with time loss, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries by subsector, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Proportion of back strain injury to all injuries by subsector, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Distribution of back strain injury by subsector, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Duration 33
Estimated duration, 1990–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Fatalities 34
Conclusion 34
4 Contents
Contents continued
fatalities
Table 1-1: Reported fatalities and all reported injuries, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Table 1-2: Deaths occurring in 2012 and reported by March 31, 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Table 1-3: Claims accepted for fatal benefits, by category of injury or disease, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Table 1-4: Claims accepted for fatal benefits by subsector, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Claims accepted for fatal benefits by sector, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Table 1-5: Listing of claims accepted for fatal benefits, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Claims accepted for fatal benefits by age at time of death and category of disease or injury, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Claim Count & General
Table 2-1: Number and cost of claims, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Table 2-2: Distribution of costs by type of claim, 2011 and 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Table 2-3: Work injuries reported and claims first paid, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Table 2-4: Claims and claim costs by provincial regional district, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Table 2-5: Claims first paid by subsector and type of claim, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Table 2-6: Claims first paid by type of claim, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Table 2-7: Health care-only, short-term disability, long-term disability, and fatal claims
first paid, by subsector, 2011 and 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Table 2-8: Days lost and claims first paid by year of injury, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Table 2-9: Days lost from work by subsector, 2008–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Charts 2-10a–f: Key indicators in WorkSafeBC Statistics 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Table 2-11: Injury rates and relief-adjusted short-term disability duration for
rateable subsectors, 2008–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Injury rate, duration, and average person-years by subsector, 2008–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Injury rates by rateable subsector, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Relief-adjusted duration by rateable subsector, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Claim Costs
Chart 3-1: Claim costs by type of benefit, 2008–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Chart 3-2: Claim costs by type of claim, 2008–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Table 3-3: Claim costs charged by subsector and type of claim, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Table 3-4: Claim costs charged by type of claim, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Claim analysis (from different perspectives)
Short-term disability, long-term disability, and fatal claims first paid by type of incident, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Table 4-1: Claims first paid in 2012, by subsector, type of incident, average weekly wage, and number
of days lost by subsector, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Contents 5
Contents
Contents continued
Table 4-2: Days lost, average weekly wage, average age, and breakdown by gender for claims
first paid, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Short-term disability, long-term disability, and fatal claims first paid by gender, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Table 4-3: Claims first paid by sector, gender, and age group, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Table 4-4: Claims first paid by type of injury, 2008–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Short-term disability, long-term disability, and fatal claims first paid by type of injury, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Table 4-5: Back strain claims first paid, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Back strain claims and days lost as a percentage of total claims and all days lost, 2003–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Premium statistics
Premium statistics (rateable employers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
service statistics
Voice of the Customer
Injured workers’ rating of their overall experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Injured workers’ rating of the overall decision on their claims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Injured workers’ rating of WorkSafeBC claim staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Injured workers’ rating of assistance with their return to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Employers’ rating of their overall experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Employers’ rating of the claim process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Employers’ rating of worksite inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Employers’ rating of WorkSafeBC premiums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Teleclaim
Teleclaim — number of workers reporting injuries, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Teleclaim interpretation services — languages requested, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Telephone interpretation services: All service areas
Telephone interpretation services, 2011 and 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Top five languages requested, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Top WorkSafeBC requesters of service, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Employer Service Centre
Telephone calls received, 2011 and 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Telephone queue service levels — average monthly, 2011 and 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Internet
WorkSafeBC .com total page visits, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
WorkSafeBC .com multi-language page visits, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Viewings of multimedia information, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6 Contents
Contents continued
Health care
Health care costs, 2000–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Average timelines for transactions, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Health care provider portal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Number of health care providers paid by year, 2010–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Self-service channels
Percentage of assessment transactions conducted through self-service channels, 2009–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Prevention statistics
Prevention activity hours (percentage of total) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Prevention activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Prevention documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Incident investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Compliance activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
WorkSafeBC call centre — number of email queries and phone calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Total number of call centre calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Total number of external email queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Occupational hygiene technical services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
WorkSafeBC-funded health and safety associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
serious Injury rate
Chart 5-1: Serious injury rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Chart 5-2: Serious injury claims — by claimant characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Chart 5-3: Serious injury claims — by incident and injury characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
regional District Maps
Regional district name list, by number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Injury rate by regional district, 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Short-term disability duration by regional district, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Percentage of claims that are serious injury claims by regional district, 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Single-incident accepted fatality claims, 2008–2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
appendices
Appendix A: Classes of industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Appendix B: Telephone interpretation services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Contents 7

Introduction
Introduction
foreword
WorkSafeBC Statistics 2012 is published annually as a Back strain injury
complement to the operational and financial reviews
covered in WorkSafeBC’s 2012 Annual Report and 2013–2015 This year’s edition of WorkSafeBC Statistics 2012 examines
Service Plan . the topic of back strain injury in detail, exploring the
relationships between the potential factors, and data from
Its purpose is to serve as a foundation for better
the last 30 years, to shine a spotlight on an area of injury
understanding the causes and patterns of areas of injury,
that affected between 12,000 and 15,000 workers over the
with a view to exploring and initiating prevention
last 10 years — responsible for more work days lost than
strategies . As each edition focuses on a single, special
any other injury type .
topic, there is also latitude for investigating topics in
greater scope and detail . Back injury is widespread, affecting almost one in five
people in British Columbia . Some back strain injuries stem
Data and information help workers, employers, and
from non-work-related causes . However, the majority of
WorkSafeBC better comprehend why injuries happen —
these injuries are the result of other causes, and often take
which is essential if we are to more effectively manage
place in the workplace, making the equation far more
work-related risks and injuries .
complex . Not surprisingly, the potential factors for back
Ultimately, this publication also serves as an important
strain injury are many and varied, including gender, age,
reminder that statistics are not simply numbers; at the
incident type, occupation, and industry .
source of every statistic is a person .
What’s clear is that back strain injury is all too common in
We hope you find WorkSafeBC Statistics 2012 an informative
B .C ., and that there is certainly more we — workers,
and engaging read .
employers, and WorkSafeBC — can do to reduce
incidence . As with all workplace injuries, there may be no
What’s inside
single solution . But in better understanding back strain
injury and its factors, together we can make progress in
WorkSafeBC Statistics 2012 includes statistics covering key
finding additional solutions . To learn more, see page 12 .
areas of operation, such as claims, assessments, prevention,
Visit WorkSafeBC.com for more information .
and service . Largely following the style and format of
previous editions, the 2012 edition now includes mobile
and YouTube views, as well as some basic infographics for
easy reference .
10