The problem of long-duration claims: What is driving increases in duration and locked-in claims?

Institute for Work & Health
481 University Avenue, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario

Sheilah Hogg-Johnson
Institute for Work & Health

Over the last decade in Ontario, the number of total days per lost-time claim compensated by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has increased dramatically, as has the rate of claims remaining active and open. In other words, there has been an increase in claim duration. The trend is in contrast to a declining claim rate experienced over much of the 1990s.

Why has there been this increase in the persistence of lost-time claims? Is it due to WSIB policy changes in January 1998 under Bill 99? Could changes in worker demographics, injury characteristics or workplace characteristics account for the increase? IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Sheilah Hogg-Johnson is conducting research to find out. In this presentation, she will discuss this research and what she has found so far.

About presenter

Photo of Sheilah Hogg-Johnson

Dr. Sheilah Hogg-Johnson is a professor at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and an associate professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She recently retired from her position as a senior scientist and biostatistician at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH).

About IWH Speaker Series

The IWH Speaker Series brings you the latest findings from work and health researchers from the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and beyond. For those unable to attend, the recorded webinar of most presentations in the IWH Speaker Series are made available on its web page within a week of the event.