December 2021

Season’s Greetings from all of us at IWH

Another year full of trials and triumphs is drawing to a close. To our subscribers and supporters, new and stalwart, we at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) wish you the best of the season. Thank you for all you do to keep work safe and workers healthy. We look forward to "seeing" you in the new year as we continue in our shared mission.

IWH Speaker Series: What the future of work looks like to young people with disabilities

What do young adults with disabilities think about when they weigh their job options and consider their career goals in the future of work? In an IWH Speaker Series presentation on December 14, Institute Scientist Dr. Arif Jetha shares findings from his study on this question. He also discusses the supports young adults with disabilities need to face the challenges of a changing labour market and take advantage of its potential opportunities.

Sign up for webinar

IWH 2020-21 annual report highlights Institute’s COVID-related research

Although we’re not yet out of the pandemic, we can begin to reflect on what workers and workplaces have been through, and what it means for the future of work. The IWH 2020-21 annual report, titled Taking Stock, describes the Institute’s research related to COVID-19 at the work-health interface. It also describes the Institute’s research into health, safety and disability issues that were important before the onset of COVID-19 and remain so today.

Read the annual report

Early findings available from Ontario Life After Work Injury Study

Within 12 months after a work-related injury, the vast majority of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claimants are back with the employer they were working for when the injury occurred. But 18 months post-injury, a different picture emerges. That’s one of the early findings from an IWH study aimed at better understanding work and health outcomes for injured workers after the end of their WSIB claims.

Read about the findings

Op-ed: What we need to do better in the next pandemic

Had we done one thing from the early days of the pandemic, we would have better understood the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces and, potentially, allowed more people to continue working with minimal risk. That’s according to an op-ed appearing in The Conversation Canada, co-authored by IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Peter Smith with Prof. Andrew Curran of the UK’s Health & Safety Executive and Dr. Letitia Davis of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Read about that one thing, and the lessons we need to learn to effectively respond to future pandemics.

Read the op-ed

New coordinator at CRE-MSD supports ongoing development of MSD guideline

The Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) welcomes Kim Meszaros as its ergonomics research coordinator. This new position will support the coordination and further development of the MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario. Meszaros is a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist with a master's of science in kinesiology, specializing in occupational biomechanics. Please direct any questions, suggestions or comments regarding the MSD Prevention Guideline to Meszaros at kmeszaros@uwaterloo.ca.

See the MSD Prevention Guideline

Uyen Vu
Senior Communications Associate
613-979-7742
uvu@iwh.on.ca