Sectors

Some sectors lose 3 times as many days as others.

Ranked on published Canadian inputs only, with every weight visible. Where a figure does not exist, the weight base shrinks rather than the score being guessed.

Absence days per worker, by sector

Days lost per full time employee per year, all personal reasons, Canada 2025

Health care loses more than 3 times what professional services loses.

SourceA315 A316 A317 A318 A319 A320 A321 A322

Where the burden sits

Not every sector carries the same risk. The data says which ones do.

Ranked on claim rate, claim duration, musculoskeletal share, serious injury rate, absence days and workforce size. 6 inputs, and every one of them is a published Canadian figure.

Transportation and warehousing

Repeated lift between knee and shoulder height, hundreds of times a shift. Whole body vibration for drivers. Loading dock handling at either end of a run.

12.4

Absence days per worker

Claims per 100 workers

Days per claim

2.14

Benefit cost ratio

The longest average claim duration of any measured subsector, and the strongest documented benefit cost ratio for prevention spend.

SourcesA319 A234 A245 A419

Health care and social assistance

Resident and patient handling all shift. Repeated repositioning and boosting with limited equipment. 12 hour shifts, mostly standing.

16.8

Absence days per worker

5.5

Claims per 100 workers

Days per claim

Loses more absence days per worker than any other sector in Canada.

SourcesA315 A275 A243

Construction

Material handling from truck to pour. Repeated bending to place forms and rebar. Overhead drilling with arms above shoulder height.

8.5

Absence days per worker

Claims per 100 workers

Days per claim

1.34

Benefit cost ratio

82% of sampled Ontario construction employers returned a benefit cost ratio above 1.0 on prevention spend.

SourcesA321 A233 A244 A420 A421

Public administration

Mixed field and desk work. Long static postures, vehicle time, and a workforce that skews older than the national average.

15.8

Absence days per worker

Federal administration loses 18.1 days per worker per year, the highest figure published for any group.

SourcesA316 A317

Manufacturing

Fixed cycle time, so the same movement repeats every cycle for the whole shift. Static standing on hard floors. Rotating shifts.

11.1

Absence days per worker

Claims per 100 workers

Days per claim

1.24

Benefit cost ratio

Repetition without task variation is the mechanism on a fixed cycle line.

SourcesA320 A242 A247 A418

Retail and wholesale trade

Pallet break down and repeated lift from floor to shelf. Overhead stocking on the top shelf. Static standing at the till.

11.0

Absence days per worker

Claims per 100 workers

Days per claim

Shoulder is a leading claimed body part nationally, at 19,147 lost time claims.

SourcesA301 A236 A247 A124

How the ranking is built

6 inputs, each one a counted quantity with a publisher behind it. Each is normalised against the highest confirmed value across sectors, so every score is a percentage of the worst observed case. Nothing is hidden behind a composite.

Physical demand is not one of them. No Canadian body publishes a demand index by sector, so scoring it would mean grading sectors on our own opinion. It stays on each sector row as a description of the work, and it earns no weight.

Published data6 sectors have no confirmed Canadian claim rate published at all. Their score rests on fewer inputs, and we say so rather than filling the gap with an estimate.

24
Time loss claim rateA232
Time loss claims per 100 person years, 5 year average
How often the sector actually loses a worker
22
Average claim durationA243
Days of short term disability paid per claim, 5 year average
Duration drives wage replacement cost and lost output
17
Musculoskeletal shareA285
Sprain, strain and tear share of accepted injuries
Identifies the injury type physiotherapy addresses
15
Serious injury rateA223
Serious time loss claims per 100 person years
Severity signal where no claim rate is published
11
Days lost per workerA301
Days lost per worker per year, all causes
Total absence exposure across the sector
11
Workforce sizeA201
Workers employed in the sector, annual average
Scales the burden to the number of workers exposed

6 measured inputs, 6 publishers. The weights on them are our judgement, and they total 100.

Find out where your site actually sits.

Sector averages are a starting point, not an answer. Your crew has its own number, and it is usually not the sector average.

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