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Workplace
Original research
Incidence of outbreak-associated COVID-19 cases by industry in Ontario, Canada, 1 April 2020–31 March 2021
  1. Sarah A Buchan1,2,
  2. Peter M Smith2,3,
  3. Christine Warren4,
  4. Michelle Murti1,5,
  5. Cameron Mustard2,3,
  6. Jin Hee Kim5,6,
  7. Sandya Menon1,
  8. Kevin A Brown1,2,
  9. Trevor van Ingen7,
  10. Brendan T Smith2,4
  1. 1 Health Protection, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2 Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  3. 3 Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  4. 4 Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  5. 5 Clinical Public Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  6. 6 Environmental and Occupational Health, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  7. 7 Analytic Services, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  1. Correspondence to Dr Sarah A Buchan, Health Protection, Public Health Ontario, Toronto, ON M5G 1M1, Canada; sarah.buchan{at}oahpp.ca

Abstract

Objectives The objective of our study was to estimate the rate of workplace outbreak-associated cases of COVID-19 by industry in labour market participants aged 15–69 years who reported working the majority of hours outside the home in Ontario, Canada.

Methods We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study of COVID-19 workplace outbreaks and associated cases reported in Ontario between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. All outbreaks were manually classified into two-digit North American Industry Classification System codes. We obtained monthly denominator estimates from the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey to estimate the incidence of outbreak-associated cases per 100 000 000 hours among individuals who reported the majority of hours were worked outside the home. We performed this analysis across industries and in three distinct time periods.

Results Overall, 12% of cases were attributed to workplace outbreaks among working-age adults across our study period. While incidence varied across the time periods, the five industries with the highest incidence rates across our study period were agriculture, healthcare and social assistance, food manufacturing, educational services, and transportation and warehousing.

Conclusions Certain industries have consistently increased the incidence of COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic. These results may assist in ongoing efforts to reduce transmission of COVID-19 by prioritising resources, as well as industry-specific guidance, vaccination and public health messaging.

  • COVID-19
  • epidemiology
  • occupational health
  • disease outbreaks
  • public health surveillance

Data availability statement

No data are available. Public Health Ontario (PHO) cannot disclose the underlying data. Doing so would compromise individual privacy contrary to PHO’s ethical and legal obligations. Restricted access to the data may be available under conditions prescribed by the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2 (2018)) and PHO privacy and ethics policies. Data are available for researchers who meet PHO’s criteria for access to confidential data. Information about PHO’s data access request process is available on-line at https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/data-and-analysis/using-data/data-requests. Access to the anonymised microdata for the Labour Force Survey Supplement is available through Statistics Canada to accredited researchers and government employees for research purposes.

This article is made freely available for personal use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.

https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2021-107879

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    Data availability statement

    No data are available. Public Health Ontario (PHO) cannot disclose the underlying data. Doing so would compromise individual privacy contrary to PHO’s ethical and legal obligations. Restricted access to the data may be available under conditions prescribed by the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2 (2018)) and PHO privacy and ethics policies. Data are available for researchers who meet PHO’s criteria for access to confidential data. Information about PHO’s data access request process is available on-line at https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/data-and-analysis/using-data/data-requests. Access to the anonymised microdata for the Labour Force Survey Supplement is available through Statistics Canada to accredited researchers and government employees for research purposes.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors SAB, PMS and BTS designed the study. SAB, SM and TVI extracted surveillance data on cases from CCM and classified outbreaks by industry, while PMS extracted denominator data from the Labour Force Survey. CW conducted all the data analysis. SAB, CW and BTS drafted the manuscript. SAB, PMS, CW, MM, CM, JHK, SM, KAB, TVI and BTS all contributed to the interpretation of the data, revising the manuscript and final approval. SAB is responsible for the overall content as the guarantor of this work.

    • Funding This study was supported by Public Health Ontario. The Institute for Work & Health is supported through funding from the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD).

    • 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.