COVID-19 claims data
The following tables show the number of claims submitted to WorkSafeBC related to a COVID-19 exposure. The tables show a point-in–time status of claims as they make their way through the adjudicative process. Please note that WorkSafeBC claims data may differ from COVID-19 data published by the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). The numbers reported here represent claims submitted by workers for COVID-19 contracted through a work-related exposure, compared with the PHSA's COVID-19 data for the general population.
The data reflects the eligibility decision on the claim file as of the report date. These numbers will fluctuate over time, as eligibility decisions and employer information continue to be updated. This information will be updated weekly (the following data is current to: April 9, 2021).
- COVID claims data by industry
- Timeliness to eligibility decision on COVID-19 claims
- Classification units with 5 or more claims registered for COVID-19
- Occupations with 5 or more claims that have been registered for COVID-19 and have proceeded to an allow or disallow decision
- Breakdown of allow and disallow decisions for occupations with both 5 or more allowed claims and 5 or more disallowed claims
COVID claims data by industry
Eligibility Decision |
|||||||
Allowed |
Disallowed |
No |
Pending |
Rejected |
Suspended |
Total |
|
Total |
2,889 | 1,126 | 86 | 219 | 10 | 293 | 4,623 |
Service - Health Care and Social Services | 1,996 | 447 | 28 | 49 | 2 | 90 | 2,612 |
Service - Education | 202 | 65 | 4 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 300 |
Service – Other subsectors (including business, professional and other services) |
128 | 54 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 37 | 237 |
Trade - Retail | 51 | 94 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 34 | 208 |
Self-insured employers | 79 | 53 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 36 | 183 |
Agriculture | 136 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 166 | ||
Public Administration | 62 | 44 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 128 |
Service - Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services | 57 | 34 | 1 | 11 | 25 | 128 | |
Transportation and Related Services | 45 | 42 | 3 | 19 | 14 | 123 | |
Construction | 34 | 24 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 88 |
Manufacturing - Food and Beverage Products | 40 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 67 | ||
Manufacturing - Metal and Non-Metallic Mineral Products | 12 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 34 | |
Manufacturing - Wood and Paper Products | 12 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 30 | |
Manufacturing - Other Products (not elsewhere specified) | 10 | 5 | 7 | 22 | |||
Trade - Wholesale | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
Manufacturing - Petroleum, Coal, Rubber, Plastic, and Chemical Products | 9 | 1 | 10 | ||||
Oil & Gas or Mineral Resources | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
Unknown employer or sector | 4 | 220 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 262 |
Claims submitted for COVID-19 contracted through a work-related exposure are adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. WorkSafeBC will look at details such as whether the worker has a diagnosis of COVID-19, their symptoms, and their exposure history. Workers are entitled to compensation if certain conditions are met.
Claims are allowed when there is sufficient evidence to establish that the worker has COVID-19 and the risk in the workplace was significantly higher than the ordinary exposure risk.
Claims are typically disallowed when there is insufficient evidence to establish that the worker has COVID-19 (based on tests or symptom cluster), and/or the worker went off work strictly as preventative measure. Not all disallowed claims have sufficient information on the claim to code the occupation of the worker; particularly when there is a negative test result and occupational information is not required to make the eligibility decision.
Most of the disallowed claims are “exposure only” – that is, the worker was potentially exposed, tested, and/or required to self-isolate, but didn’t actually develop the illness, as confirmed with a negative test result or absence of symptoms.
Early in the pandemic, WorkSafeBC determined it would issue a decision, wherever possible, on all COVID-19 claims registered. This included providing a disallow decision on exposure-only claims, which in non-pandemic circumstances might have been recorded only but not adjudicated. This decision was made to allow workers to access alternative employment or government income/benefits that might be contingent on a decision from WorkSafeBC.
Of the total number of COVID-19 claims that have proceeded to an allow/disallow decision to date, 72% have been allowed. If exposure-only claims are excluded from the disallowed claims, then the allow rate is approximately 95%. This better represents the allow rate on claims where the worker developed COVID-19.
Not all claims registered receive an allow or disallow decision. Some claims are suspended when insufficient information is available, or a worker decides not to proceed with the requirements of the claims process. Suspended claims may proceed at a future point and be allowed or disallowed.
A smaller number of claims are classified as no adjudication required, or rejected. No adjudication required claims may have been filed in error or there was nothing to consider as the worker did not seek medical attention and did not miss any time from work. Rejected claims are those that do not fall within the scope of the Act: either claims from workers employed in industries not covered under the Act or claims from self-employed workers without optional protection.
Pending claims do not yet have sufficient information to make an eligibility decision. These claims could be waiting for test results or other evidence required to make a decision.
Unknown employer or sector means that the employer has not yet been identified or the employer and/or the specific claim have not yet been assigned to an industry classification unit and sector.
Timeliness to eligibility decision on COVID-19 claims
For the COVID-19 illness claims that have been allowed to date, the average number of days from the date of claim registration to the date of the allow decision was 20 days.
For the COVID-19 illness claims that have been disallowed to date, the average number of days from the date of claim registration to the date of the disallow decision was 23 days.
On average, the number of days to a disallow decision is longer than for allow decisions. The reason for the additional time is to wait at least 14 days from the last potential exposure before disallowing a claim, in the event symptoms present themselves later in the incubation period. This extra time is necessary to confirm the worker did not contract the disease.
Classification units with 5 or more claims registered for COVID-19
Subsectors are further broken down into classification units. The data table above is presented at the industry sector or subsector level and the table below provides additional information for COVID-19 claims registered by classification unit.
Industry classification unit |
Industry subsector | Claims registered |
---|---|---|
Acute Care | Health Care and Social Services | 1,021 |
Long-Term Care | Health Care and Social Services | 988 |
Public School District | Education | 284 |
Residential Social Service Facility | Health Care and Social Services | 185 |
Community Health Support Services | Health Care and Social Services | 177 |
Supermarket | Retail | 134 |
Local Government and Related Operations | Public Administration | 87 |
Counselling or Social Services (not elsewhere specified) | Health Care and Social Services | 66 |
Fruit or Vegetable Packing or Packaging |
Other Services (not elsewhere specified) |
62 |
Retirement Home or Seniors' Home (accommodation only) | Health Care and Social Services | 61 |
Commercial Cleaning or Janitorial Services | Other Services (not elsewhere specified) | 54 |
Restaurant or Other Dining Establishment | Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services | 52 |
Vegetable Greenhouse | Agriculture | 50 |
Poultry Processing | Food and Beverage Products | 47 |
Law Enforcement | Public Administration | 38 |
White Mushroom Farming | Agriculture | 35 |
Ornamental Nursery or Floral Field Production | Agriculture | 34 |
Commercial Bus, Shuttle Operations, or Public Transit (not elsewhere specified) |
Transportation and Related Services |
29 |
Pre-hospital Emergency Health Care | Health Care and Social Services | 28 |
Poultry Farming and Related Services |
Agriculture |
27 |
General Retail (not elsewhere specified) | Retail | 27 |
Large Retail Store (not elsewhere specified) |
Retail |
24 |
Coffee Shops, Ice Cream Parlours, or Other Food Concessions (not elsewhere specified) | Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services | 21 |
Physician Professional Services | Health Care and Social Services | 20 |
Alcohol or Drug Treatment Centre | Health Care and Social Services | 19 |
Security or Patrol Services | Other Services (not elsewhere specified) | 19 |
General Trucking (not elsewhere specified) | Transportation and Related Services | 18 |
Heavy Equipment, Machinery, or Parts Manufacture or Installation (greater than 500 lb.) |
Metal or Non-Metallic Mineral Products |
17 |
Daycare Centre, Preschool, or Playschool | Other Services (not elsewhere specified) | 16 |
Plumbing, Heating, Vent, Residential Air Conditioning, or Central Vacuum System Installation or Repair | General Construction | 15 |
Aircraft Handling or Fueling | Education | 15 |
Marine Container Terminal |
Transportation and Related Services |
15 |
Electric or Electronic Product or Component Manufacture (not elsewhere specified) | Other Products (not elsewhere specified) | 14 |
Overnight and Short-term Accommodation (not elsewhere specified) |
Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services |
13 |
Construction Labour Supply or General Labour Supply (not elsewhere specified) |
General Construction |
13 |
Auto Dealership or Auto Sales | Other Services (not elsewhere specified) | 13 |
Electric Utilities | Utilities | 12 |
Ski Hill |
Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services |
11 |
Motion Picture, Commercial, or Television Production | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 11 |
Home Improvement Centre | Retail | 10 |
Ferry Service |
Transportation and Related Services |
10 |
Veneer or Plywood Manufacture | Wood and Paper Products | 10 |
Advanced Education | Education | 9 |
Short-Term Care |
Health Care and Social Services |
9 |
Industrial, Commercial, Institutional or Highrise Residential General Contracting or Construction | General Construction | 8 |
Structural Concrete Forming |
General Construction | 8 |
Life and Job Skills Training |
Health Care and Social Services |
8 |
Courier or Local Delivery Services (not elsewhere specified) |
Transportation and Related Services |
8 |
Catering Services (not elsewhere specified) | Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services | 7 |
Outdoor Sport Tour | Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services | 7 |
Meat Cutting, Packing, Processing, or Canning | Food and Beverage Products | 7 |
Dentistry or Ancillary Dental Services | Health Care and Social Services | 7 |
Elevator or Escalator Manufacture, Installation, Service, or Repair | Metal and Non-Metallic Mineral Products | 7 |
Medical Supplies Wholesale or Film Distribution | Wholesale | 7 |
Pulp and Paper Mill | Wood and Paper Products | 7 |
Berry Farming | Agriculture | 6 |
Fur Bearing Animal Farming | Agriculture | 6 |
House or Other Wood Frame General Contracting, Construction, or Renovation Work |
General Construction |
6 |
Laboratory Services (not elsewhere specified) | Health Care and Social Services | 6 |
Heavy Equipment, Machinery, or Parts Sales, Rental, Service, or Repair (greater than 500 lb) (not elsewhere specified) |
Other Services (not elsewhere specified) |
6 |
Car or Truck Rental | Oil & Gas or Mineral Resources | 6 |
Specialized Public Transit Services | Transportation and Related Services | 6 |
Pub, Bar, Night Club, or Lounge | Accommodation, Food, and Leisure Services | 5 |
Custom Brokerage or Freight Forwarding (including handling of goods) | Business Services | 5 |
Independent or Private Primary or Secondary School | Education | 5 |
Food Product Manufacture (not elsewhere specified) | Food and Beverage Products | 5 |
Open Pit Coal Mining | Oil & Gas or Mineral Resources | 5 |
Occupations with 5 or more claims that have been registered for COVID-19 and have proceeded to an allow or disallow decision
Of the COVID-19 claims registered, a subset have proceeded to an allow or disallow decision. Claims are allowed when the evidence is sufficient to establish the worker has COVID-19 and the risk in the workplace was significantly higher than the ordinary exposure risk. Claims are typically disallowed because the evidence is insufficient to establish that the worker has COVID-19 disease (based on tests or symptom cluster), and/or the worker went off work strictly as preventative measure.
In order to protect privacy, only occupations with a total claims allowed plus disallowed greater than 5 are listed.
Occupation | COVID-19 claims with an allow or disallow decision |
---|---|
Total - all occupations | 4,015 |
Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates | 857 |
Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses | 587 |
Licensed practical nurses | 320 |
Social and community service workers | 227 |
Elementary school and kindergarten teachers |
115 |
Light duty cleaners | 87 |
Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 78 |
Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants | 66 |
Nursery and greenhouse workers | 55 |
Firefighters | 53 |
Correctional service officers | 47 |
Other assisting occupations in support of health services | 45 |
General farm workers |
41 |
Secondary school teachers | 41 |
General office support workers | 38 |
Sheriffs and bailiffs | 37 |
Harvesting labourers | 36 |
Police officers (except commissioned) | 33 |
Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants | 30 |
Labourers in food, beverage and associated products processing | 27 |
Retail salespersons | 24 |
Store shelf stockers, clerks and order fillers | 23 |
Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists | 22 |
Security guards and related security service occupations |
22 |
Food and beverage servers | 21 |
Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers |
21 |
Pursers and flight attendants | 21 |
Receptionists |
21 |
Paramedical occupations | 20 |
Cashiers | 19 |
Nursing co-ordinators and supervisors | 18 |
Personnel clerks | 18 |
Retail and wholesale trade managers |
18 |
Construction trades helpers and labourers |
18 |
Material handlers | 17 |
Transport truck drivers | 17 |
Testers and graders, food, beverage and associated products processing | 17 |
Cooks | 16 |
Retail sales supervisors | 15 |
Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators |
14 |
Electricians (except industrial and power system) |
14 |
General practitioners and family physicians |
14 |
Heavy equipment operators (except crane) | 14 |
Janitors, caretakers and building superintendents |
14 |
Managers in health care | 14 |
Managers in social, community and correctional services | 14 |
Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers | 13 |
Administrative assistants | 12 |
Heavy-duty equipment mechanics |
11 |
Medical radiation technologists | 11 |
Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics |
10 |
Occupational therapists | 10 |
Physiotherapists | 10 |
Plumbers |
10 |
Carpenters |
9 |
Dispatchers | 9 |
Other customer and information services representatives |
9 |
Shippers and receivers | 9 |
Social workers | 9 |
Longshore workers | 7 |
Public works and maintenance labourers |
7 |
Silviculture and forestry workers | 7 |
Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors |
6 |
Airline ticket and service agents |
6 |
Food service supervisors | 6 |
Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations | 6 |
Crane operators | 5 |
Other labourers in processing, manufacturing and utilities | 5 |
Other medical technologists and technicians (except dental health) | 5 |
Other professional occupations in therapy and assessment | 5 |
Other technical and co-ordinating occupations in motion pictures, broadcasting and the performing arts | 5 |
Restaurant and food service managers |
5 |
Specialized cleaners | 5 |
Supervisors, supply chain, tracking and scheduling co-ordination occupations |
5 |
Not coded with occupation* | 287 |
*Occupation information not submitted or obtained, as not required to make eligibility decision on these claims.
Breakdown of allow and disallow decisions for occupations with both 5 or more allowed claims and 5 or more disallowed claims
Claims are allowed when the evidence is sufficient to establish the worker has COVID-19 and the risk in the workplace was significantly higher than the ordinary exposure risk. Claims are typically disallowed because the evidence is insufficient to establish that the worker has COVID-19 disease (based on tests or symptom cluster), and/or the worker went off work strictly as preventative measure.
In order to protect privacy, only occupations with both 5 or more allowed claims and 5 or more disallowed claims are listed.
Occupation | COVID-19 claims Allowed | COVID-19 claims Disallowed |
---|---|---|
Total - all occupations | 2,889 | 1,126 |
Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates | 756 | 101 |
Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses | 442 | 145 |
Licensed practical nurses | 290 | 30 |
Social and community service workers | 189 | 38 |
Elementary school and kindergarten teachers | 104 | 11 |
Light duty cleaners | 77 | 10 |
Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 59 | 19 |
Nursery and greenhouse workers | 49 | 6 |
Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants | 36 | 30 |
General farm workers |
33 | 8 |
Secondary school teachers | 32 | 9 |
Correctional service officers | 29 | 18 |
Firefighters | 28 | 25 |
Other assisting occupations in support of health services | 25 | 20 |
Police officers (except commissioned) | 22 | 11 |
General office support workers | 21 | 17 |
Sheriffs and bailiffs | 16 | 21 |
Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists | 15 | 7 |
Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants | 13 | 17 |
Pursers and flight attendants |
13 | 8 |
Receptionists | 12 | 9 |
Transport truck drivers | 12 | 5 |
Paramedical occupations |
11 | 9 |
Retail salespersons | 10 | 14 |
Retail and wholesale trade managers |
9 | 9 |
Janitors, caretakers and building superintendents |
9 | 5 |
Security guards and related security service occupations |
8 | 14 |
Food and beverage servers | 8 | 13 |
Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers | 8 | 5 |
Store shelf stockers, clerks and order fillers | 7 | 16 |
Construction trades helpers and labourers | 7 | 10 |
General practitioners and family physicians | 6 | 8 |
Cashiers | 5 | 14 |
Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators |
5 | 9 |
Heavy equipment operators (except crane) | 5 | 9 |