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IWH Speaker Series
The problem of long-duration claims: What is driving increases in duration and locked-in claims?
Sheilah Hogg-Johnson, Institute for Work & Health
Over the last decade in Ontario, the number of total days per lost-time claim compensated by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has increased dramatically, as has the rate of claims remaining active and open. In other words, there has been an increase in claim duration. The trend is in contrast to a declining claim rate experienced over much of the 1990s. Why has there been this increase in the persistence of lost-time claims? Is it due to WSIB policy changes in January 1998 under Bill 99? Could changes in worker demographics, injury characteristics or workplace characteristics account for the increase? IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Sheilah Hogg-Johnson is conducting research to find out. In this presentation, she will discuss this research and what she has found so far.
IWH Speaker Series
Job quality: What is it, why does it matter, and how can it be improved?
Graham Lowe, The Graham Lowe Group
This presentation examines the diverse theories, concepts and practices that address the quality of jobs, work environments and individuals’ work experiences. On this broad canvas, we can identify points of convergence around key sets of determinants and outcomes. However, a common conceptual vocabulary is lacking, which impedes cross-fertilization across disciplines and between researchers and practitioners. The most promising opportunity for an integrated approach is around the connection between work environments, employee well-being and organizational performance. Practitioners and policy-makers need a basic model explaining these complex dynamics. By taking up this challenge, researchers would help ensure that future decisions to improve job quality are informed by evidence.
IWH Speaker Series
Coordinating return-to-work stakeholders in a changing welfare system
Christian Stahl, National Centre for Work and Rehabilitation, Linköping University, Sweden
Research on disability prevention and return to work (RTW) over the last decades has concluded that involving all relevant stakeholders in rehabilitation and disability prevention is important, and that the responsibilities of the stakeholders need to be coordinated. The coordination of RTW stakeholders is promoted by international institutions such as the European Union, and cooperative initiatives have been put into practice in several countries. In the Scandinavian countries, for instance, stakeholder cooperation in rehabilitation and RTW has been the subject of legislation and institutional reforms. Since the 1990s, Sweden has been creating structures for stakeholder cooperation. A more recent initiative is the creation of Coordination Associations (CAs), made up of four central stakeholders in the Swedish social security system: the Social Insurance Agency, the Public Employment Service, municipal social services and primary health care. In this presentation, Christian Stahl of Sweden's National Centre for Work and Rehabilitation will discuss the Coordination Associations, how people employed by the authorities and in health care perceive cooperative work and how recent policy changes affect their practice, as well as recent policy changes from an internationally comparative perspective.
IWH Speaker Series
Occupational exposures and cancer risk
Aaron Blair, Occupational Cancer Research Centre
Studies of exposures in the workplace have made major contributions to our understanding of human carcinogenesis. In the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, occupational exposures account for 31 per cent of the factors classified with "sufficient" evidence for human carcinogenicity, for 42 per cent of those listed as "probable" human carcinogens, and 42 per cent of those listed as "possible" human carcinogens. Given the prominent role played by occupational exposures in our understanding of human carcinogenesis, it is worthwhile to take stock of where we are regarding studies of occupational cancer. In this presentation, Dr. Aaron Blair will look at how successful research has been in reducing the burden of cancer, and what we should be doing in the future.
IWH Speaker Series
What does it mean to be "on disability" in Canada?
John Stapleton, Metcalf Foundation Fellow
What understanding do most Canadians have of disability benefits, and why is it so difficult to have a national discussion about a comprehensive disability benefit program? This presentation will look at the various types of disability income and service programs we have in Canada and why they are so hard to reform.
IWH Speaker Series
Making a difference in MSD prevention
Richard Wells, Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD)
Despite worldwide attention, work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) remain a substantial concern at work, and result in considerable personal and societal burden. Information from a recent survey indicates that a minority of workplaces are taking action. Identifying hazards and performing risk assessments are key steps in workplace prevention activities. Do workplaces have the tools and training to do this? In order to then perform intense MSD prevention activities, interventions need to address important risk factors for a large proportion of exposed workers. The presentation explores these challenges.
IWH Speaker Series
Bridging the safety gap for vulnerable young workers using youth employment centres
Curtis Breslin, Institute for Work & Health; Matt Wood, Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres; Cameron Mustard, Institute for Work & Health
Young people aged 16 to 24 years who are out of school (and especially those with less than a high school diploma) are at a particularly elevated risk of work injury. To determine the optimal way to improve occupational health and safety (OHS) for this “high risk” subgroup, the Institute for Work & Health collaborated with the Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres (OEYAC) to conduct an online survey through youth employment centres across Ontario. This plenary will outline the main findings of this survey and discuss recommendations for employers and policy-makers in Ontario
IWH Speaker Series
Finding common ground in OHS: The use of commemoratives in young worker injury prevention
Elizabeth Mansfield, Institute for Work & Health
This presentation reports on findings from a case study of the Canadian LifeQuilt, a commemorative quilt and online memorial website dedicated to the remembrance of 100 young workers who died at work.
IWH Speaker Series
Enacting the service role: Implications of “backstage” behaviour by service agents in response to customer aggression
Aaron Schat, McMaster University
Using this dramaturgical perspective of customer service work as a framework, Dr. Aaron Schat, assistant professor of organizational behaviour and human resource management at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, will examine the emotional and behavioural responses of service agents to customer aggression. In particular, he will look at the types of backstage behaviours adopted by customer service agents to manage the stress and emotions that arise from their on-stage experiences of customer aggression. He will present the results of a recent study examining the implications of backstage behaviour on service agents’ work attitudes, behaviour and well-being.
IWH Speaker Series
Preventing construction accidents at design concept and research
Carmine Tiano, Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario
Construction worker safety continues to be a major concern for the construction industry. While significant improvements have been made in the last few decades, efforts must be made to strive for the zero accident objectives. The presentation reviews the relevant research and other jurisdictions which have implemented construction design regulations in the United Kingdom.
IWH Speaker Series
Examining trends in no-lost-time claims in Ontario, 1991-2006
Peter Smith, Institute for Work & Health
In this presentation, Institute Scientist Dr. Peter Smith reviews recently completed work examining trends in no-lost-time claims and lost-time claims in Ontario between 1991 and 2006. The results are based on administrative data combined with labour force survey estimates across different labour force subgroups (age, gender, industry and workplace size).
IWH Speaker Series
Working with a chronic illness: Making work changes, coping and disclosure of arthritis in the workplace
Monique Gignac, Toronto Western Research Institute
Considerable evidence links chronic physically disabling diseases like arthritis to loss of employment. However, until recently, few studies have focused on the employment experiences of these individuals. In this presentation, Dr. Monique Gignac, a senior scientist with the Division of Health Care and Outcomes Research and a research investigator with the Arthritis Community Research and Evaluation Unit at the Toronto Western Research Institute, presents findings on psychosocial aspects of living and working with arthritis.
IWH Speaker Series
A systematic review of health and safety in small enterprises: Findings from quantitative and qualitative literature
Ellen MacEachen, Institute for Work & Health; Curtis Breslin, Institute for Work & Health
In this presentation, Institute Scientists Dr. Ellen MacEachen and Dr. Curtis Breslin outline the key findings from a systematic review of international peer-reviewed literature to identify effective occupational health and safety interventions and implementation directions for small businesses.
IWH Speaker Series
An examination of the working conditions and risk factors for work-related injuries among immigrant workers in Ontario
Peter Smith, Institute for Work & Health
In this presentation, Dr. Peter Smith reports the results of a recently completed project at the Institute for Work & Health examining OHS risk factors, work injuries and compensation after injury among recent immigrant workers in Canada. The results suggest that recent immigrants to Canada face a number of OHS hazards that put them at increased risk of work-related injuries requiring medical attention. In addition, the results suggest recent immigrants are at an increased risk of not receiving any compensation following a work-related absence of seven days or longer.
IWH Speaker Series
The case for specific targeted enforcement when regulatory oversight by professionals is inadequate
Michael Chappell, Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL)
In this presentation, Michael Chappell, the provincial coordinator of the Construction Health and Safety Program within the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Health and Safety Branch, focuses on recent concerns around crane safety in the wake of a number of major accidents, including those in New York State that claimed several lives.
IWH Speaker Series
The Mustard Fellowship 2006-2008: Subgrouping of workers on disability benefits due to low back pain
Ivan Steenstra, Institute for Work & Health
In this presentation Ivan Steenstra, an epidemiologist and kinesiologist and the Mustard Postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Work & Health from 2006 to 2008, provides an overview of the work he has done on sub-grouping of workers on disability/sick leave due to low back pain.
IWH Speaker Series
A review of evaluations of social marketing campaigns in occupational injury, disease or disability prevention
Cameron Mustard, Institute for Work & Health
The primary objective of this review was to conduct a review of evaluations of social marketing campaigns in the fields of occupational injury prevention, occupational disease prevention or the prevention of disability. In pursuing this objective, our purpose was to identify those evaluations conducted to higher quality standards and to describe the most important results reported from these higher quality studies. A secondary objective was to examine the quality of economic evaluations conducted in this field and to complete, if feasible, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of social marketing interventions in occupational injury, disease or disability prevention.
Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture
Quality improvement in health-care services for injured workers
Thomas Wickizer, University of Washington
For the 2008 Nachemson Memorial Lecture, Dr. Thomas Wickizer will discuss how Washington State has improved the quality of health care in its workers’ compensation system. He will describe the evolution of these efforts since 1995, leading to a major system intervention that provided financial incentives to physicians and introduced structural changes in the workers’ compensation health-care delivery system. An evaluation of this intervention indicates these changes are associated with reductions in disability for injured workers, and decreased costs. Dr. Wickizer will also speak about the importance of collaboration among researchers, the state’s Department of Labor and Industry, and business and labour stakeholder groups in order for research to influence policy.
Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture
Safety climate: The role of leadership in enhancing workplace safety
David Stuewe, Dalhousie University
There is increasing recognition of the influence of workplace safety culture and safety climate in protecting the health of employees. With this recognition comes a heightened interest in effective approaches for strengthening workplace safety climate and safety culture. This lecture will explore the role of executive and front-line leadership in creating and maintaining workplace cultures that promote safety. Professor Stuewe will present case studies showing the importance of measuring workplace climate through the eyes of workers. He will describe the effectiveness of leadership training of both managers and supervisors as a key instrument in strengthening the safety culture of a workplace.
Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture
Preventing the burden of workplace MSDs: What do we know about what works?
Barbara Silverstein, Safety & Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP), Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
In this important lecture, Dr. Silverstein will look at the enormous burden work-related musculoskeletal disorders has on employees and will review what has worked in primary and secondary prevention. She will also consider the impact of regulatory approaches in the United States and other countries.