More than 1,130 COVID-19 claims for worker’s compensation have been filed with Worksafe B.C. through the first six months of the pandemic, according to figures from the province’s worker safety organization.
Health care workers were in touch with WorkSafe most often; as of the end of September, they filed 648 claims, 273 of which were allowed and 264 were disallowed. Others may have been rejected, suspended or may still be pending subject to additional information.
WorkSafe said claims are allowed when there is sufficient evidence to establish a worker has COVID-19 and the risk in the workplace is significantly higher than ordinary exposure risk.
Claims are typically disallowed when there is insufficient evidence to establish that the worker has COVID-19 or the worker was off work as a preventative measure.
Most of the health care claims, 367, came from acute care facilities like hospitals with another 144 coming from long-term care facilities. In health care, 163 claims came from registered nurses, 145 from nurses’ aides and orderlies and another 44 from licensed practical nurses.
It takes an average of 17 days for a COVID-19 illness claim to be allowed, and an average of 23 days for one to be disallowed.
WorkSafe said the reason for the additional time is the 14-day waiting period from the the last potential exposure before disallowing a claim, in the event symptoms present themselves later in the incubation period.
WorkSafe has also fielded more than 15,000 questions from workers around the province through the first seven months of the pandemic. It has received 3,303 reports of potential violations in workplaces and carried out more than 16,900 worksite inspections.
In total WorkSafe has issued 563 orders after prevention officers observe a health and safety violation.
In an earlier interview, Al Johnson, head of prevention services at WorkSafe B.C., told the Times Colonist the majority of employers have good COVID plans in place and meet all requirements.
He added that some operators do need “more motivation to comply” but generally most of them want to do the right thing.
“Employers know what is expected and know the ground rules,” he said.
That may explain the fairly low number of orders issued.
WorkSafe’s 320 prevention officers and 80 consultants have issued just 181 orders for non-compliance in the last two months after having issued 382 orders through the first four months of the pandemic.
The service sector received the most non-compliance orders with 196, followed by 123 in the manufacturing sector and 113 in construction.
The largest number of inspections, 6,533, have been carried out at service-sector workplaces with another 3,608 carried out at retail locations and 3,432 on construction sites.
