25 March, 2021 Open access
25 March, 2021 Open access
However, Council confirms it will recommend prescription if and when there is strong enough evidence that occupational exposures cause disabling disease on ‘balance of probabilities’
The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) has decided not to recommend prescription of Covid-19 due to occupational exposure for industrial injuries disablement benefit (IIDB) purposes.
In a new interim Position Paper, Covid-19 and occupation, the IIAC sets out the findings of a review of available evidence about the health effects arising from workplace exposure to Covid-19 including death data published by the Office for National Statistics to the end of 2020 and information on infection and hospitalisation rates by occupation and patterns of occupational exposure.
The IIAC's findings include that there is some evidence of a doubling of risk for several occupations - including in health and social care settings and transport - and that the risk of suffering severe Covid-19 is increased in social care and transport workers. However, while the IIAC says that this shows a clear association between several occupations and increased risk of death from the disease -
‘…the consistency. and extent of the mortality data, and the lack of adjustment for factors such as deprivation, means that the evidence is currently too limited in quality and quantity to justify prescription at this stage.’
Nevertheless, it goes on to acknowledge that -
‘… the current evidence of a doubling of risk in several occupations indicates a pathway to potential prescription and the Council expects that future data will enable a better understanding of the effect that Post-Covid-19 syndrome may have on loss of function. The Council will recommend prescription if and when there is strong enough evidence that occupational exposures cause disabling disease on the ‘balance of probabilities'.'
For more information, see COVID-19 and occupation: IIAC position paper 48 from gov.uk
Our webtools: