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.
Public consultation is now under way on a draft strategy for building an inclusive workforce—one where people with and without disabilities have the same choices in their jobs and careers. The organizations behind the draft strategy, hosts of the Disability and Work in Canada 2018 conference held last December in Ottawa, are hoping to gather input on the document from as many perspectives as possible.
Congratulations to Dr. Nancy Carnide, who was recently named an associate scientist at the Institute. Previously a post-doctoral fellow at IWH, Carnide was also the recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and a CIHR Strategic Training Fellowship in Work Disability Prevention. Her current research interests focus on substance use and mental health problems among working populations.
It had a five-year plan that included building a culture of safety across the province. What it was missing was a definition of safety culture—and a way to measure any progress made. That was when SAFE Work Manitoba turned to IWH and its work on occupational health and safety leading indicators. In this impact case study, we look at how the IWH Organizational Performance Metric is helping SAFE Work Manitoba achieve its goals.
In 2013, Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) put two of IWH’s Seven ‘Principles’ for Successful Return to Work into practice when it introduced changes to the medical assessment service offered at its Regional Evaluation Centres. The new service integrates return-to-work (RTW) planning and enhances communication among health-care providers, the WSIB and the employer, with the worker’s participation. In a new impact case study, we look at the difference in recovery and RTW outcomes after the changes were put in place.
From violence to cannabis legalization to mental illness, policy-makers and occupational health and safety practitioners are challenged to stay on top of emerging societal issues that also affect the workplace. We summarize our research work on these big issues and more in the Institute’s 2017 Annual Report, now available to download.
IN THE CURRENT ISSUE ...
Identifying promising strategies to prevent or reduce misuse and abuse of prescription opioids.
Calculating employers’ spending on occupational health and safety in 17 Ontario sectors.
Developing a screening tool for workplace psychosocial hazards, with the help of IWH’s expertise.
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.