Montréal, December 11, 2012 – Combining CSST data for the years 2005 to 2007 with Census data published by Statistics Canada for the year 2006 has allowed the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) to produce a study containing several innovative portraits of the situation of Quebec workers receiving compensation for occupational injuries. In addition to providing individual frequency indicators and severity indicators, the study has come up with a frequency-severity indicator that takes into account both frequency rates and average compensation for injuries resulting in time-loss compensation (TLC). It also contains separate indicators for the three occupational groups (manual workers, non-manual workers and workers with combined tasks); youth 15 to 24 years; workers aged 45 or more; industries most at risk; and so forth.- While manual workers in the construction, forestry and mining sectors still figure among the groups with the highest severity-frequency rates, manual workers in the tertiary sector (e.g., building material and gardening supplies dealers) also have high rates;
- Nearly 70% of occupational injuries with TLC occur among men, but women have a higher frequency-severity rate than men for each of the three occupational categories;
- More than 5,000 new cases of occupational disease/disorders (OD) are recognized each year. OD risk is higher in male manual workers.
- Ear disorders such as deafness are more prevalent in men, while musculoskeletal disorders are more prevalent in women. Together, these two types of injuries account for more than eight out of 10 ODs;
- Seventeen industries, accounting for 7% of the workforce and 23% of the injuries with TLC, have a frequency-gravity rate three times higher than the provincial (Quebec) average;
- Nearly one of eight occupational injuries with TLC (11.8%) results in permanent physical or psychological injury (PPI);
- One accident in five (21%) does not result in any time-loss compensation;
- The average duration of injury compensation with TLC increased from 73 days in 2000-2002 to 88 days in 2005-2007;
- The average duration of injury compensation with TLC for the workforce as a whole (87.9 days) is two times higher than that for young workers (43.2 days).
“Indicator calculations were based on the number of paid workers in full-time equivalents (FTE) rather than on the actual number of individuals; this approach was employed to reflect the importance of atypical work, especially part-time or casual work, and differences by age and sex. They will prove very useful in prioritizing and planning prevention interventions, but also in research”, said lead author Patrice Duguay, head of the Groupe connaissance et surveillance statistiques (“Panel on Statistical Information and Monitoring”) at the IRSST.
The study, which consists of a report and an appendix (In French), can be accessed free of charge atwww.irsst.qc.ca.
Report R-749
Appendix RA-749
Source
Jacques Millette
Head of Public Affairs
IRSST
514 288-1551, poste 210
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