The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) is a Canadian leader in work injury and disability prevention research. An independent, not-for-profit organization, IWH conducts and shares actionable research to promote, protect and improve the health and safety of working people.
Currently, no national or international standard is available to help Canadian employers achieve excellence in their work disability management systems. A research team, which includes IWH Senior Scientist and Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy (CRWDP) Director Dr. Emile Tompa, has been working with the CSA Group to change that. A new proposed standard on work disability prevention management systems—the CSA Z1011 standard—is now available for public review and comment. The deadline for feedback is December 8.
Disability management depends on good communication. In large and complex organizations, communication breakdowns about return to work (RTW) tend to concentrate around two key roles: front-line supervisors and case managers. That’s according to an IWH study of communication bottlenecks in disability management.
The Institute has been honoured with a 2019 Korn Ferry Engaged Performance Award. The award recognizes 71 organizations from around the world that score high in two categories—engagement and enablement—in the consulting firm’s employee surveys. Winning organizations are chosen based on employee responses to four statements: “I feel proud to work for the company,” “I would recommend the company as a good place to work,” “My job makes good use of my skills and abilities” and “Conditions in my job allow me to be as productive as I can be.”
Estimates of the economic burden of work-related injuries and illnesses help policy-makers and other stakeholders in occupational health and safety (OHS) set priorities. In a recent European Agency for Safety and Health at Work project, IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Emile Tompa led a team to compile such estimates for five European Union countries: Germany, Poland, Finland, The Netherlands and Italy. On November 12, he shares findings and discusses the methods used—methods that can serve as a template for economic burden estimates elsewhere.
Having a health condition or a chronic disease can be challenging for older workers, but it doesn’t necessarily decrease their intention to work or hasten their retirement. According to an IWH study on retirement expectations, with appropriate policies and practices, older workers with health limitations can be supported to remain active in the labour force.
IN THE CURRENT ISSUE...
Greater job control, job security and social support are linked to both lower risks of mental illness and greater likelihood of flourishing mental well-being.
Evidence-based health and safety benchmarks are now available for building construction employers in Manitoba, thanks to an IWH collaboration with the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba.
New systematic review confirms widespread message that new workers face higher risks of acute injury.
Integrate evidence-based policies and practices into your occupational health and safety, return-to-work and rehabilitation programs. IWH has created a number of tools and guides based on our research findings that can help improve program outcomes.
Find out how IWH research is making a difference. Read our impact case studies, in which policy-makers, workplaces and other stakeholders in health, safety and disability prevention tell how IWH research helped improve their policies, programs and practices.
Whether it’s a policy briefing, a systematic review summary or the highlights of a specific research project, we’ve compiled a number of plain-language summaries to help you understand the research we’re doing, what we have found, and how we found it.
Learn directly from the researchers themselves about their latest findings in health, safety and disability prevention. We host regular presentations (in person or live stream) through our IWH Speaker Series and our annual Nachemson lecture.