Examining the Relationship Between Workplace Industry and COVID-19 Infection: A Cross-sectional Study of Canada's Largest Rapid Antigen Screening Program.

Objectives: To control virus spread while keeping the economy open, this study aimed to identify individuals at increased risk of COVID-19 transmission in the workplace using rapid antigen screening data.
Methods: Among adult participants in a large Canadian rapid antigen screening program (January 2021-March 2022), we examined screening, personal, and workplace characteristics and conducted logistic regressions, adjusted for COVID-19 wave, screening frequency and location, role, age group, and geography.
Results: Among 145,814 participants across 2707 worksites, 6209 screened positive at least once. Workers in natural resources (odds ratio [OR] = 2.1 [1.73-2.55]), utilities (OR = 1.67 [1.38-2.03]), construction (OR = 1.35 [1.06-1.71]), and transportation/warehousing (OR = 1.32 [1.12-1.56]) had increased odds of screening positive; workers in education/health (OR = 0.62 [0.52-0.73]), leisure/hospitality (OR = 0.71 [0.56-0.90]), and finance (OR = 0.84 [0.71-0.99]) had lesser odds of screening positive, compared with professional/business services.
Conclusions: Certain industries involving in-person work in close quarters are associated with elevated COVID-19 transmission. Continued reliance on rapid screening in these sectors is warranted.
Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: S.S., A.A., J.G., A.G., L.R., and J.S. comprise the steering committee of the CDL RSC, and all authors receive compensation for services to the CDL RSC. A.G.’s full disclosure statement is available at http://www.avigoldfarb.com/disclosure . J.G. has written the books Economics in the Age of COVID-19 , The Pandemic Information Gap , and The Pandemic Information Solution on which he receives royalties. J.S. is a senior strategic advisor to Digital Public Square, a not-for-profit that works on the uses of technology for community development. The authors declare that they have no other competing interests.
(Copyright © 2023 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)