Research that matters to protecting the health and safety of workers

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.

Latest news & findings

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The Spring 2021 issue of At Work is out

In this issue, read about our joint study on claim suppression in British Columbia. Learn about the factors that raise injury risks for small workplaces, and find out what nine future of work trends may mean for workers already facing barriers to the labour market.

Read the issue

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Help design ways to support the future employment of young people with disabilities

Are you a young person living with a disabling health condition? Do you have direct experience supporting young people with disabilities? Or do you have expertise in policy, labour markets, disability and employment or strategic foresight?

If you answer yes to any of the above, we invite you to take part in an online activity aimed at designing better future work supports for young people with disabilities. For more information about this study, please contact Kay Nasir by emailing knasir@iwh.on.ca.

Find out more

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Benefits outweigh costs when protection from UV radiation is offered to construction workers

Ultraviolet radiation due to sun exposure is one of the most common causes of work-related cancer in Ontario. A new study by IWH examines the costs and benefits of providing protective clothing and shade shelter to avert work-related non-melanoma skin cancer over 30 years.

Read about the study

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Mark Day of Mourning on April 28

On April 28, we mark the Day of Mourning to remember people who are hurt or killed on the job. And this year again, it is an opportunity to pay tribute to essential workers who continue to provide the health care, goods and services we depend on, and to mourn those who have lost their lives or health to COVID-19 in the course of doing so. Let’s all take a moment on the day to resolve to do what we can to ensure the health and safety of all workers.

See a list of Day of Mourning events

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How much does depression set Canadian workers back in earnings?

Does depression hurt the earning potential of affected workers in Canada and, if so, how much? That was what IWH Research Associate Kathleen Dobson set out to find. Using an innovative technique, she calculated the average drop in workers’ earnings in the first year after workers experienced a depressive episode—and how much ground they continued to lose over 10 years.

Read about the findings

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IN THE CURRENT ISSUE...

Half of British Columbia workers with a lost-time work injury or illness don’t report it to WorkSafeBC. That’s according to a study that found claim suppression in about four to 13 per cent of lost-time injuries.

Working-age Canadians who live through a major depressive episode go on to experience a loss in earnings that persists for at least a decade.

Study finds no difference in injury risks between large and small firms once the adequacy of OHS policies and procedures is accounted for.

Read the issue

Tools and guides

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.

View tools and guides

Impact case studies

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.

Go to case studies

Research summaries

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.

Get the summaries

Events

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.

See upcoming events