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  • Workers’ compensation claims for COVID-19 among workers in healthcare and other industries during 2020–2022, Victoria, Australia

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Workplace
Original research
Workers’ compensation claims for COVID-19 among workers in healthcare and other industries during 2020–2022, Victoria, Australia
  1. Helen Louise Kelsall1,
  2. Michael F Di Donato2,
  3. Sarah L McGuinness3,4,
  4. Alex Collie2,
  5. Shannon Zhong3,
  6. Owen Eades3,
  7. Malcolm Ross Sim3,
  8. Karin Leder3,5
  1. 1 Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. 2 Healthy Working Lives Research Group, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. 3 School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. 4 The Alfred Hospital Travel Medicine Clinic, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. 5 Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Helen Louise Kelsall, Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia; helen.kelsall{at}monash.edu

Abstract

Objective To identify and characterise COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims in healthcare and other industries during the pandemic in Victoria, Australia.

Methods We used workers’ compensation claims identified as COVID-19 infection related from 1 January 2020 to 31 July 2022 to compare COVID-19 infection claims and rates of claims by industry and occupation, and in relation to Victorian COVID-19 epidemiology. A Cox proportional hazards model assessed risk factors for extended claim duration.

Results Of the 3313 direct and indirect COVID-19-related claims identified, 1492 (45.0%) were classified as direct COVID-19 infection accepted time-loss claims and were included in analyses. More than half (52.9%) of COVID-19 infection claims were made by healthcare and social assistance industry workers, with claims for this group peaking in July–October 2020. The overall rate of claims was greater in the healthcare and social assistance industry compared with all other industries (16.9 vs 2.4 per 10 000 employed persons) but industry-specific rates were highest in public administration and safety (23.0 per 10 000 employed persons). Workers in healthcare and social assistance were at increased risk of longer incapacity duration (median 26 days, IQR 16–61 days) than in other industries (median 17 days, IQR 11–39.5 days).

Conclusions COVID-19 infection claims differed by industry, occupational group, severity and timing and changes coincided with different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Occupational surveillance for COVID-19 cases is important and monitoring of worker’s compensation claims and incapacity duration can contribute to understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on work absence.

  • COVID-19
  • Epidemiology
  • Occupational Health
  • Health Personnel
  • Public health

Data availability statement

No data are available.

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2023-108982

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    Data availability statement

    No data are available.

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @michaelfdd, @drsarahmac, @axcollie

    • Contributors MRS, KL and HLK initiated the study. HLK, MFDD, MRS, SLM, AC, KL, SZ and OE contributed to the design of the study. MFDD performed the analyses. HLK and MFDD drafted the manuscript. SLM, AC, MRS, KL, SZ and OE contributed to the writing and editing of, and feedback on, the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. HLK is responsible for the overall content as guarantor.

    • Funding The study was funded by WorkSafe Victoria (VWA4005914) and the Victorian Government COVID-19 research fund (Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, HHSF/20/12957). AC is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT190100218). KL is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Fellowship (APP115500).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.