Past events
IWH Speaker Series
Work disability trajectories under three workers' compensation programs
Emile Tompa, Institute for Work & Health
This presentation profiles a study that investigated how Ontario workers’ compensation claimants from different time periods fared in terms of labour-market earnings recovery. More specifically, this study investigated the labour-market earning patterns of Ontario workers’ compensation long-term disability claimants from three different time periods and receiving benefits under three different programs. The study provides insights into the individual and contextual factors that contribute to labour-market engagement and earnings recovery.
IWH Speaker Series
Near-miss reporting…on the road to prevention
Ester Digiovanni, Atotech Canada Ltd.
Occupational health and safety professionals persist in their efforts to eliminate, minimize and treat risk. Although much progress has been made over the last few decades, workplace incidents continue to occur. When it comes to industrial incidents, being proactive and concentrating on prevention are the keys to improved performance. In light of this, Atotech Canada Ltd. has decided to broaden its safety culture by emphasizing the reporting of near misses. This plenary talks about this effort and how it has raised awareness of industrial risks.
IWH Speaker Series
Serving the food nation: Assessing body mass index and self-perceived weight in the food service worker population
Julia Woodhall , University of Waterloo
Ms. Woodhall’s research, the subject of this plenary, investigates the views that fast-food workers hold regarding health and eating to uncover how these workers negotiate their own food and lifestyle choices. This work draws on the body of research on the implications of proximity to fast food, fast-food work structures and the socioeconomic explanations for eating high caloric food outside of the home. The argument is that these fast-food workers participate in an internalized negotiation process to determine their food consumption patterns at work. These workers are constrained in their choices, due to socioeconomic status, time concerns and food availability at work.
IWH Speaker Series
Certifications and awards for occupational health and safety, wellness, quality and excellence
John Speers, Workplace Safety & Prevention Services
In this plenary, John Speers provides a comparative overview of the standards, certifications and awards that an organization may use in its pursuit of occupational health and safety, wellness, quality and excellence. He also provides perspectives from his own organization's experiences, including why and how it has used certifications and awards, and what limitations and benefits were discovered.
IWH Speaker Series
Regional trends in work-related injury and illness, Ontario 2004-2008
Andrea Chambers, Institute for Work & Health; Cameron Mustard, Institute for Work & Health
Existing surveillance work has documented a parallel decline in work-related injuries and illness over the period 2004-2008 in two administrative data sources: emergency department visits and workers’ compensation lost-time claims. This plenary reports on a cross-sectional, observational study based on these administrative records, for occupationally active adults age 15+ in Ontario. Work injuries were classified to one of five economic regions and to eight categories defining the event of the injury. Percentage change in counts of visits or claims were estimated over the period 2004-2008. Although the two data sources document generally consistent work-related injury/illness trends in incidence by region and by injury event, there are unexplained differences in the regional incidence of compensation claims and emergency department visits.
IWH Speaker Series
Development of a prediction rule to determine time away from work
Ivan Steenstra, Institute for Work & Health
Identifying workers at high risk for longer duration away from work following a workplace injury is very appealing. In this plenary, Dr. Steenstra discusses how the research team developed a prediction rule to determine time away from work based on data readily available through Ontario workers’ compensation records augmented with data from the Readiness for Return to Work (R-RTW) cohort study.
IWH Speaker Series
Bearing the brunt: Co-workers’ experiences of work reintegration processes
Debra Dunstan, University of New England, Australia
Recent legislative changes in Australia parallel those of other nations and require employers to take increased responsibility for the return to work of injured employees. In this context, work disability research has found co-worker support to be important to work reintegration success. This plenary provides insights into the experience of co-workers who have worked alongside returning injured workers. It is based on a qualitative pilot study that was conducted in Toronto in 2011.
Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture
Thirty years after OHSA: Keeping pace with the changing world of work
Michael Silverstein, University of Washington
Today’s labour force is characterized by aging workers, declining unionization, a growing number of newcomers, a decline in long-term employment relationships and an increase in independent contracting and temporary employment. As a long-time public administrator of occupational health and safety programs, Dr. Michael Silverstein will offer his views on how we might modernize our regulatory standards and practices to keep pace with the changing world of work. He will also address the challenge of using research to inform and implement occupational health and safety policies and programs.
IWH Speaker Series
Understanding “under-reporting” in occupational health and safety
Joan Eakin, University of Toronto; Dana Howse, University of Toronto; Linn Holness, Centre for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease
Under-reporting of occupational health problems can have significant consequences including under-estimation of the occupational injury and disease burden, sub-optimal prevention and treatment, reduced access for workers to compensation, and displacement of costs from the compensation system to the public health system. But to date we do not have sufficient understanding of why and how under-reporting occurs. This plenary discusses a project that took this issue on and set the stage for future research investigation by examining key concepts, stakeholders’ language and logic, new potential units of analysis and determinants, and the socio-politics of doing research in this area.
IWH Speaker Series
Supervisors’ perspectives on work accommodation: The case of cancer
Ziv Amir, University of Salford, UK
With improvement in diagnosis, treatment and survival rates, returning to work after cancer is of increasing importance to individuals and employers. However, studies looking at work and employment in cancer survivors indicate areas of uncertainty and lack of information. The contradictory nature of the findings and dependence on cultural factors suggest further work is needed. In this plenary, Dr. Amir presents the findings from two recent UK surveys, both of which suggest that employers/supervisors need to be provided with support and resources that help them facilitate employment and job retention for individuals diagnosed with cancer.
IWH Speaker Series
Occupational exposure to ultraviolet radiation: Current knowledge and future challenges
Thomas Tenkate, Ryerson University
As virtually everyone is exposed to the sun on a daily basis, ultraviolet (UV) radiation is an important environmental health hazard. Additionally, there are many occupations that receive substantial exposures to either natural UV or UV from artificial sources. Even though the adverse effects of UV exposure have been well known for some time, there is still much that we don't know about occupational UV exposure. In the occupational setting, managing the risk of occupational UV exposure is particularly challenging. This plenary will discuss the current state of knowledge and some key risk management challenges relating to occupational exposure to UV.
IWH Speaker Series
Implementing a global ergonomics program and metric system at Magna International Inc.
Gary Au, Magna International
The topic of this plenary is the new metric system and set of ergonomics criteria launched across 120 North American plants in 2007 and another 136 plants later in Europe and Asia. The new structure ensured a more systematic and robust method for identifying and reducing ergonomic risk in all plants. A central database increased the ease of sharing information. In 2011, Magna received the Ergonomic Innovation Award from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) for the this newly developed database system.
IWH Speaker Series
Measuring workplace psychological health and safety
John Oudyk, Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc.
How do you measure stress in the workplace? For the last two years, a working group of health, safety and compensation representatives, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and academic researchers have evaluated a strategy to measure psychosocial risk factors in the workplace. Using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ), the working group piloted the survey at several conferences and workplaces. In this plenary, John Oudyk, an occupational hygienist at OHCOW, reports on the findings from these surveys and demonstrates the working group’s tool kit.
IWH Speaker Series
Developing a consensus statement on the use of research evidence in injury compensation systems
Alex Collie, Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research
A key goal of compensation research is to improve policy and practice within injury compensation systems, but realizing the benefits of evidence-informed policy and practice requires a shift in thinking and practice. In this plenary, Dr. Alex Collie describes the development of a consensus statement in Australia and New Zealand regarding the use of research evidence in personal injury compensation policy and practice. The statement identifies eight major factors affecting the uptake of research evidence and six opportunities to improve uptake.
IWH Speaker Series
Towards a transformative view of evaluation
Sanjeev Sridharan, St. Michael's Hospital
Current trends in evaluation and the steps by which evaluation can matter for public health are two key topics in this plenary. Based on ongoing evaluations and evaluation capacity projects in a number of settings, Dr. Sridharan, director of the Evaluation Centre for Complex Health Interventions at St. Michael’s Hospital, explores conditions under which evaluation can make a difference.
IWH Speaker Series
New models for occupational cancer surveillance in Canada
Paul Demers, Occupational Cancer Research Centre
There are 60 well-established workplace carcinogens identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. But there are over 100 industrial chemicals (and other agents) that are suspected to cause cancer. Canada lacks any rapid, low-cost means to assess whether exposures, occupations or industries pose an increased risk. In this plenary, the director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre shares two projects currently being undertaken to establish alternative models for occupational cancer surveillance in this country. If successful, these projects will create two, alternative platforms for the surveillance of occupational cancer in Canada.
IWH Speaker Series
The management of OHS and return-to-work issues in temporary work agencies
Ellen MacEachen, Institute for Work & Health
Temporary work agencies are a growing phenomenon and an increasingly established part of new flexible labour markets. Studies have shown that agency workers are at greater risk for occupational accidents and diseases than permanent workers. However, little is known about the management of injury prevention and return to work within temporary work agency contexts. In this presentation, Dr. Ellen MacEachen talks about the findings from an IWH study on the organization of health and safety in temporary work agencies.
IWH Speaker Series
Supporting employees dealing with chronic diseases: Emerging issues among workers with arthritis
Monique Gignac, Toronto Western Research Institute
Individuals with chronic physically disabling illnesses experience a number of challenges when working.This plenary discusses three separate studies of individuals with inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis, and highlights the episodic nature of many chronic conditions like arthritis, the work-health balance and perceived “job lock” (that is, being trapped in a job because of one’s health).Those reporting "job lock" were more likely to report absenteeism related to their disease, job disruptions and lower productivity. These findings are discussed, along with the need for workplace interventions to target work-related and psychosocial issues that could facilitate or undermine employment.
IWH Speaker Series
Is safe production an oxymoron?
Mark Pagell, York University
Both safety and operations scholars conduct research on safety practices and outcomes, and yet they sometimes reach different conclusions about the relationship between creating a safe workplace and creating a productive workplace. This plenary discusses research that examined safety practices and outcomes in the wider context of business operations.The goal was to enhance the understanding of the practices critical for safe workplaces, and the business value (positive or negative) of safety. The results provide new and novel insights.