{"id":7669,"date":"2025-10-17T10:03:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/safecarebc.ca\/?p=7669"},"modified":"2025-10-17T10:03:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:03:38","slug":"2024-injury-trends-in-long-term-care-and-community-health-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/?p=7669","title":{"rendered":"2024 injury trends in long-term care and community health support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether you're a care worker, healthcare professional, or considering a career in long-term care or home care, understanding workplace safety is essential. The physical demands of these roles are real\u2014and the statistics back that up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The reality: Care work comes with risks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Recent 2024 data from WorkSafeBC reveals concerning trends. Care workers experience injuries at significantly higher rates than workers in other sectors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Long-term care:<\/strong> Injury rates are approximately 4 times the B.C. average<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Home and community care:<\/strong> Injury rates are more than double the provincial average<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most common causes of injury include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Overexertion and strain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exposure to toxic substances - including communicable disease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Slips and trips<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Workplace violence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beyond the numbers: The real impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Statistics like \"82,535 workdays lost in long-term care\" might sound abstract, but they represent real consequences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For care workers:<\/strong> Chronic pain, longer recovery times, and the physical toll of returning to demanding work while healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For healthcare teams:<\/strong> Persistent understaffing, increased workload for remaining staff, and elevated burnout rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For residents or clients and their families:<\/strong> Reduced continuity of care and strained resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Emerging trends add new concerns. Younger home care workers are experiencing a notable increase in mental health claims, while older long-term care workers face injuries that take longer to heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">There's hope: Prevention works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite these challenges, there's encouraging news: injury claims and associated costs are declining, demonstrating that targeted safety initiatives make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What you can do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For care workers:<\/strong> You don't have to accept injury as \"part of the job.\" Access training on proper lifting techniques, understand your rights to a safe workplace, and use available safety equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For healthcare administrators:<\/strong> Invest in comprehensive safety programs, ensure adequate staffing, and foster a culture where reporting hazards is encouraged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For everyone:<\/strong> Education is the foundation of prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learn more<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We've created clear, accessible infographics breaking down 2024 injury trends by sector. These resources identify specific risk areas and connect you to practical solutions\u2014whether you're starting your first shift or leading a care team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">See the infographics below to understand the risks in your workplace and discover evidence-based strategies to protect yourself and your colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your safety matters. Make it a priority from day one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you're a care worker, healthcare professional, or considering a career in long-term care or home care, understanding workplace safety is essential. The physical demands of these roles are real\u2014and the statistics back that up. The reality: Care work comes with risks Recent 2024 data from WorkSafeBC reveals concerning trends. Care workers experience injuries at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"topic":[148],"class_list":["post-7669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","topic-injury-statistics-trends"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-15 21:55:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7672,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7669\/revisions\/7672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7669"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scbcdev.safecarebc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftopic&post=7669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}