FOI Ref: FOI/2022/3825
You asked
Please supply how many respondents to your Labour Force Survey in the year 2020/21 that reported catching COVID-19 and believed it was caused by coronavirus exposure at work, said that they worked in the construction industy, police service, retail, engineering or as school teachers.
We said
Thank you for your request for analysis related to COVID-19. There are two possible sources to meet this which are the Labour Force Survey and the COVID-19 Infections Survey.
Labour Force Survey
Unfortunately, we do not hold analysis showing the proportion of the respondents that reported having COVID-19 broken down by industry. In order to provide this, we would need to create bespoke analysis. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Public Authorities are not obligated to create information in order to respond to FOI requests. However, the information you have requested, or something similar, may be available via our customer services team of ONS Social Surveys division.
We can provide an ad hoc analysis service, including - of relevance in this instance - tabulations of Labour force (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) data, both of which contain question variables relating to sickness absences due to COVID-19.
This service is subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate. Details of the variables included in these datasets can be viewed in the LFS User Guides.
If you would like to enquire about our service, then please contact socialsurveys@ons.gov.uk
If you are able to do your own cross-tabulations, you could purchase an anonymised LFS or APS dataset from the UK Data Service. Details on costs and how to download the data can be found on their website.
COVID-19 Infection Survey
The Office for National Statistics COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS) is a household survey that estimates the number of people testing positive for infection and for antibodies in the UK. Our statistics refer to the number of current COVID-19 infections within the population living in private residential households. We exclude those in hospitals, care homes and/or other communal establishments. In communal establishments, rates of COVID-19 infection are likely to be different.
At the pilot stage of the study, all respondents to the CIS were individuals who had previously participated in the Annual Population Survey, an ONS social survey, and had agreed to be approached about future research. The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a continuous household survey that uses data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Since August 2020, the CIS was expanded to invite a random sample of households from the AddressBase. More information about how participants are sampled can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey: methods and further information article.
The CIS does not hold data on the number of Labour Force Survey respondents who reported catching COVID-19 as a result of exposure in the workplace. However, you might be interested in our 2020 archive of COVID-19 Infection Survey datasets. Datasets from the pilot stage between May and July 2020 (when the CIS sample were all previous APS participants) include analysis on the impact of work variables on the likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19. This includes whether the individual worked in a patient-facing healthcare or resident-facing social care role, and working location (whether the individual worked from home or outside the home).
You might also be interested in our more recent article Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey, characteristics of people testing positive for COVID-19, UK: 19 January 2022 and accompanying dataset. This analysis considers the likelihood of testing positive by characteristics such as work status, work sector, and work location. You can also see our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey: characteristics of people testing positive for COVID-19 in England, 22 February 2021 article and accompanying dataset, which explores the likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19 by occupation.
Your request may be better addressed by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA, formerly Public Health England) who are responsible for NHS Test and Trace. They can be contacted via email at informationrights@ukhsa.gov.uk.
Further information and an overview of data about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and other sources can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights tool.