Past events
IWH Speaker Series
Perspectives on using occupational health and safety research
Dwayne Van Eerd, Institute for Work & Health
What can we learn from people in occupational health and safety (OHS) about their access to, and use of, OHS research? In this plenary, Institute for Work & Health associate scientist Dwayne Van Eerd discusses findings from a study of OHS knowledge users, including factors that help or hinder their use of OHS research in decision making.
IWH Speaker Series
Health impact of commuting among new immigrants in precarious jobs
Stephanie Premji, McMaster University
What commuting challenges do new immigrants in precarious jobs face, and how do these challenges in turn affect their employment prospects? In this plenary, Dr. Stephanie Premji shares results of a qualitative study on new immigrants working in precarious jobs and the commuting issues they face, including the health impact of those commutes.
IWH Speaker Series
How North American companies can improve workplace safety when outsourcing overseas
Hasanat Alamgir, University of Texas School of Public Health
There are about 4,000 garment factories in Bangladesh, employing 4 million, mostly young women, in harsh conditions with minimal or non-existent workplace health and safety regulations and policies. In this presentation, Dr. Hasanat Alamgir looks at the actions and responsibilities of local and Western stakeholders and outlines the progress made so far. He also shares findings of recent research on fire safety knowledge and awareness among workers and on the health status and disability of the survivors of the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse.
IWH Speaker Series
Pain and prejudice: What science can learn about work from the people who do it
Karen Messing, Université du Québec à Montréal
Dr. Karen Messing, professor emeritus of ergonomics at the Université du Québec à Montréal, talks about her latest book, Pain and Prejudice: What Science Can Learn about Work from the People Who Do It. In her book, Messing reflects on her 35 years as a researcher in occupational health in Canada. She suggests that many current mechanisms for the support and publication of research prevent scientists from expressing and even experiencing empathy with injured workers. The resulting empathy gap can affect the quality of occupational health science, as well as its ability to prevent damage to workers' health.
IWH Speaker Series
Model of safety inspections
Kathryn Woodcock, Ryerson University
Although safety inspectors play a key role in safety management systems, there has been little scholarly research on how they do their jobs. In this plenary, Dr. Kathryn Woodcock presents a model of safety inspections developed through her study of safety inspections of amusement park rides and discusses strategies to support inspectors and help their knowledge acquisition.
IWH Speaker Series
Developing a measure of OHS vulnerability
Peter Smith, Institute for Work & Health
The term "vulnerability" is used increasingly in occupational health and safety (OHS) in Ontario. Although certain groups in the labour market (e.g. younger workers, temporary workers or immigrants) are often labelled as “vulnerable workers,” there is very little discussion about what the broader workplace and occupational factors are that lead to increased risk of injury among these groups, and whether these risk factors are similar across the groups. In this plenary, Dr. Peter Smith, a scientist at the Institute for Work & Health, provides an overview of the conceptual framework of OHS vulnerability. He also shares preliminary findings from a survey capturing different dimensions of OHS vulnerability across a sample of workers in Ontario and British Columbia.
IWH Speaker Series
Understanding independent medical assessments (IMA) in workers' compensation systems
Agnieszka Kosny, Institute for Work & Health
Independent medical assessors play a key role in many workers' compensation boards (WCBs), conducting investigations on a range of issues, from medical diagnosis to extent and duration of disability. In this plenary, Institute for Work & Health Scientist Dr. Agnieszka Kosny shares findings from her study on the use of independent medical assessments across 17 jurisdictions in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. She also highlights challenges from the perspectives of policy-makers and service providers, and discusses ways the use of independent medical assessments could be improved.
Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture
Assessing the impact of NIOSH research on worker health protection
Paul Schulte, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), established in 1970, is the United States federal agency that conducts work injury and illness prevention research aimed at protecting the country’s 155 million workers. As part of its research mandate, NIOSH is committed to moving research into practice through concrete and practical solutions, recommendations and interventions. From his perspective as a long-time leader of moving research into practice at NIOSH, Schulte will offer his views on the many efforts of NIOSH to assess its impact and the lessons learned about how best to ensure that research does, indeed, have an effect on worker health protection.
IWH Speaker Series
Returning to work following low-back pain: Do prognostic factors differ for acute, subacute and chronic pain?
Ivan Steenstra, Institute for Work & Health
How long does it take for someone with low-back pain to recover enough to return to work? That's a question often asked by the worker, the employer, and the workers' compensation agency alike. In this plenary, Dr. Ivan Steenstra shares prognostic factors for subacute and chronic low-back pain and compares them with prognostic factors for acute pain. He also discusses how stakeholders use prognostic information, and how their understanding of prognostic factors compares to his own findings.
IWH Speaker Series
Exploring OHS issues among people who do long commutes or leave home for extended periods for work
Barbara Neis, Memorial University
In this plenary, On the Move project director Dr. Barbara Neis, a research professor in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University and co-director of the SafeyNet Centre, explains why greater attention should be paid to the relationship between occupational health and safety (OHS) and employment-related geographic mobility. She also discusses On the Move's preliminary findings on the OHS policy challenges—including gaps in current laws and regulations—related to workers while travelling to or from work, while at work, while living at work, or while maintaining a life at home when travelling for work.
IWH Speaker Series
Examining gender/sex differences in work injury risk, consequences of work injury and the relationship between work stress and chronic disease
Peter Smith, Institute for Work & Health
Institute Scientist Dr. Smith shares details about his new five-year research program into how sex and gender shape risk of work injury, time off work after a work injury, and the relationship between the work environment and chronic illnesses.
IWH Speaker Series
Exploring a new model for occupational cancer surveillance
Paul Demers, Occupational Cancer Research Centre
There are about 60 well-established workplace carcinogens, and still more to-be-identified occupational carcinogens. Yet Canada still lacks a rapid, systematic means to assess increased cancer risk associated with occupational exposures. Although Canada collects timely and high quality information on every new cancer that is diagnosed through provincial and national registries, occupational cancer surveillance data has been limited by the lack of information on industry and occupation. In a pilot study, a research team linked Workplace Insurance and Safety Board (WSIB) lost-time claims data with the Ontario Cancer Registry (OCR). In this plenary, Dr. Paul Demers, director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, discusses the results of the pilot study, focusing on the feasibility of this new approach to assessing and monitoring workplace risk factors for cancer.
IWH Speaker Series
Intervention research in work and mental health: What works and what doesn't
Karen Nieuwenhuijsen, Coronel Institute of Occupational Health
Knowledge has been building about the adverse effects of mental health disorders in the workplace, from absenteeism and long-term work disability to poorer work functioning while present at work (presenteeism). In this plenary, Coronel Institute of Occupational Health assistant professor Karen Nieuwenhuijsen looks at a variety of intervention studies on mental health problems. She discusses the challenges they faced and shares evaluations of stay-at-work and return-at-work strategies for workers with mental health disorders.
IWH Speaker Series
Internal audit of psychosocial working environment in certified occupational health and management systems: Between standardization and autonomy
Anne Helbo, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark
Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) provide a valuable framework for assessing and managing health and safety risks in many work environments, particularly in manufacturing and industrial sectors. However, they seem to have difficulty addressing psychosocial hazards, which tend to be more prevalent in the service and public sectors. In this plenary, Aalborg University PhD student Anne Helbo looks at the practice of internal auditing as an instrument of quality control in an OHSMS—and in particular its effectiveness in addressing psychosocial risks.
IWH Speaker Series
Preventing musculoskeletal disorders: Findings from a systematic review update
Emma Irvin, Institute for Work & Health; Claire Munhall, Institute for Work & Health
Workers in all industries are vulnerable to painful and potentially disabling injuries and disorders of the neck, shoulders, upper arms, forearms, elbows, wrists and hands—areas known as the upper extremities. The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) has conducted a systematic review on the effectiveness of workplace intervention programs to prevent and manage upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). In this plenary, the team shares the updated findings and the key messages from the latest research available.
IWH Speaker Series
Examining supervisors' support for work accommodation
Vicki Kristman, Institute for Work & Health
Employers can help prevent work disability due to low-back pain by offering temporary work accommodations. And often it's the supervisor who plays a key role in making offers of accommodation available. In this plenary, Associate Scientist Dr. Vicki Kristman outlines her study of supervisors, and shares the individual and organizational factors that are more likely to increase their support for work accommodation.
IWH Speaker Series
A model of "breakthrough change" in workplace health and safety performance
Lynda Robson, Institute for Work & Health
What do workplaces that manage to turn around their poor health and safety records have in common? In an innovative, case-study-based study called "Breakthrough Change," Dr. Lynda Robson examined the experiences of four Ontario workplaces that dramatically brought down their injury claim rates over a 10-year period. In this plenary, she shares the common themes that have emerged from her study—some of them unexpected.
IWH Speaker Series
Different but equal: Workforce participation of people with episodic disabilities
Tammy C. Yates, Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR)
An increasing number of Canadians live with lifelong episodic disabilities that result from chronic conditions, including arthritis, multiple sclerosis, HIV, mental illness, diabetes, lupus, cancer and other rare diseases. Despite their ability to work, these people face barriers to employment, job retention and income supports. In this plenary, Tammy Yates of the Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation talks about the barriers to full workforce participation by those living with episodic disabilities and issues a call to action.
IWH Speaker Series
Developing CSA standards for OHS
Andrea Holbeche, CSA Group
When CSA standards are developed for occupational health and safety (OHS), what does the process look like? In this plenary, Andrea Holbeche, project manager in OHS at CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association), lays out the methodology for developing, writing and reviewing standards to ensure they remain current and technically valid. CSA standards are used by a broad base of stakeholders to help enhance safety for people and businesses. When implemented by industries or regulators, CSA standards help contribute to a wide range of safety and sustainability goals.
IWH Speaker Series
Movement analysis of firefighters using gaming and simulation technology
Tara Kajaks, McMaster University
The work firefighters do can be very physically demanding, putting them at risk of musculoskeletal injuries (MSI). In this plenary, Tara Kajaks presents her research on the use of gaming and simulation technology to ergonomically assess firefighters in their training environment. In addition to presenting the study results, she also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of this technology for field-based movement analysis and ergonomics assessment.