Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture

A look back on the influence of IWH research on policy and practice in Ontario

Cameron Mustard, Institute for Work & Health

Dr. Cameron Mustard, the former president of the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), will reflect on research conducted at IWH during his two decades at its helm. He will also talk about the impact of IWH research on improving practices and policies that protect workers from occupational injury, illness and disability in Ontario.

Preventing occupational disease: Moving the agenda forward

Paul Demers, Occupational Cancer Research Centre

Exposures arising from work in high-income countries are understood to be responsible for 15 to 20 per cent of all lung cancers, 15 per cent of asthma cases, and varying proportions of many other diseases. There is a now a growing recognition that the burden will persist if we don’t pay increased regulatory and voluntary attention to occupational disease prevention. In the 2018 Nachemson lecture, Dr. Paul Demers will review the distinct research challenges in establishing a causal relationship between exposure to substances in occupational settings and the onset of disease. He will describe the process by which important international agencies establish a scientific consensus on disease causation arising from occupational exposures and the challenges of estimating the burden of occupational disease. He will also highlight past successes in occupational disease prevention in Canada and outline his perspective on opportunities to move the occupational disease prevention agenda in Canada in the decade ahead.

High-hazard industries: Addressing safety culture, climate and leadership to improve outcomes

Linda Goldenhar, CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training

In this lecture Dr. Goldenhar talks about the research that led her team to develop, first, a workbook to help strengthen jobsite safety climate by improving performance in eight areas identified as leading indicators of health and safety outcomes and, more recently an online tool that assesses a workplace’s safety climate maturity. Dr. Goldenhar also shares preliminary evaluation findings of a program that she and her team developed to improve jobsite supervisory leadership—one of the eight safety climate leading indicators identified as critical by construction stakeholders.

A celebration of Wolfgang Zimmermann and the work of NIDMAR

With presentations by Joachim Breuer, Andrew King, The Honourable Wayne G. Wouters and Wolfgang Zimmerman
The Institute for Work & Health’s 2016 Nachemson lecture celebrates the important work of Wolfgang Zimmermann and the organization he leads. Three people who have worked closely with Zimmermann will talk about his important contribution both in Canada and beyond to improving the circumstances of people with disabilities in the working world.

Using research evidence to help prevent work disability in Ontario

Judy Geary, Former Executive, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)

In 2015, WSIB marked 100 years of service to employers and workers in Ontario. Over the past decade, the Board embarked on significant reforms to strengthen case management services provided to employers and injured workers and to improve vocational rehabilitation services for workers disabled by a work-related injury or illness. These reforms have contributed to the prevention of more than two million lost work days annually in the Ontario economy, according to WSIB. As a member of the WSIB executive team, Judy Geary played a leading role in the design and implementation of these complex reforms. In leading these reforms, Geary drew guidance from the international research on effective practices in work disability prevention. In her lecture, Geary will outline some of the lessons learned in integrating research evidence in the reform of valued public services.