What's new

How does your construction company measure up on safety? IWH and the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba are teaming up on a project to develop health and safety leading indicators for the construction sector. They’re also building benchmarks for the province’s construction workplaces. The project is now recruiting construction firms operating in Manitoba of all types and sizes to complete an online survey. Watch and share the recruitment video to help us spread the word. Or go to our project page for recruiting info.

Are you concerned that literacy or numeracy skills gaps among workers would get in the way of their uptake of job skills or OHS training? If so, embedding essential skills content in the job or OHS training could help. Our recent study of hoisting and rigging learners showed better scores among those who took the training with embedded essential skills. A guide based on that research is now available to download.

If someone you work with or supervise experiences depression —or if you have symptoms yourself—there are ways to offer and seek support. Our new Evidence-informed guide to supporting people with depression in the workplace lays out tips and suggestions. It’s aimed at helping people with depression cope with symptoms while working or returning to work after an episode of depression. Users may include individuals with depression, managers, co-workers, human resources staff, union representatives and worker representatives. When it comes to supporting workers with depression, everyone can help.

In this issue... what researchers, workers and managers say about how to support employees with depression; the link between facilities near or at work—such as playing fields, gyms and shower rooms—and workers' exercise level; the economic burden of non-melanoma skin cancers due to sun exposure at work, and more. If you're not getting the issue in your inbox, make sure to subscribe!

This Saturday, April 28, is the National Day of Mourning to remember those who have died, or been left injured or ill, because of their work. Mark the day by watching the video or posting a tribute on the WSIB Day of Mourning site. Join the CCOHS social media “thunderclap.” Attend a commemorative event listed by Workers Health and Safety Centre. These are just some of the ways to mark the day.

The Institute for Work & Health is now accepting applications for its 2018-2019 S. Leonard Syme Training Fellowships in Work & Health. The fellowships are for early-career researchers at the master's or doctoral level intending to study work and health. Typically, the Institute awards three fellowships of $5,000 each competition, although it occasionally awards one major fellowship of up to $15,000. The deadline for applications is June 8.

The Institute for Work & Health's Spring 2018 Systematic Review Workshop is set to take place May 14-16 in Toronto. Designed for clinical trainees, clinicians, decision-makers, academics and researchers, this popular workshop teaches you how to plan, conduct and communicate the results of a systematic review. If interested, please register soon. Space is limited and almost full.

We need your help. If you’re a manager or supervisor with experience accommodating employees with chronic physical or mental health conditions, we’d like to hear from you for a study on talking about workplace accommodation needs. Tell us about the challenges you faced supporting employees with chronic health conditions while also balancing privacy concerns. Your participation would consist of a confidential phone interview of about 30 to 40 minutes. If you’re interested, please email jbowring@iwh.on.ca or call 1-855-884-1416.

A summary report released today the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), A clear business case for hiring aspiring workers, suggests opening the doors to aspiring workers living with mental illness is a win-win for employers and employees. The report summarizes an in-depth MHCC research study that examined the costs and benefits of recruiting and retaining people living with mental illness. Institute for Work & Health Senior Scientist Dr. Emile Tompa conducted the cost-benefit analysis for the study. According to the report, employer’s projected net savings over the five-year span due to accommodating a worker ranged from approximately $56,000 to $204,000.

In Canada, migrant workers and newcomers are among those disproportionally affected by precarious employment. On May 8-9, the Work, Migration and Health Forum will examine the labour experiences of Canada’s migrants and newcomers, including temporary foreign workers, new immigrants, refugees, international students and undocumented migrants. IWH’s Dr. Basak Yanar, one of the keynote speakers, discusses newcomers’ experiences looking for work and finding information about health and safety. Registration is free for newcomers and migrants.

Millennials represent a growing proportion of the labour market. A chronic, episodic disease can be a source of unpredictability that add to the challenges these young adults face in finding and keeping a job. On Thursday, April 4, hear Dr. Arif Jetha discuss the unique labour market experiences of young people with chronic conditions. Learn about accommodations that may help them, as well as the barriers they face accessing these workplace supports. This free webinar is offered by the Workplace Wellness and Disability Prevention Institute.

The Institute for Work & Health has a new board member: Dr. Andréane Chénier. Chénier is a national representative specializing in health and safety for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). She brings the public-sector worker perspective as a representative on many committees, including the Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Council, where she’s the labour co-chair on the Section 21 committee for health care. Chénier has master's degree in immunology from the University of Ottawa, and a doctorate in biomolecular sciences from Laurentian University.

IWH is seeking a qualified person for the position of Assistant Project Manager to help with the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, taking place in Toronto in October 2020. The World Congress is the world’s largest event for the international occupational health and safety community and will draw more than 3500 delegates from more than 150 countries. As part of the World Congress project team, the Assistant Project Manager will play a central role in coordinating the planning for this global event. The deadline for applications is April 20, 2018.

In February 2017, the World Health Organization released its report Rehabilitation in health systems. Aimed primarily at low- and middle-income countries, the report sets out evidence-based recommendations to help government leaders and health policy-makers develop or extend rehabilitation services and deliver them equitably within existing health systems. Five of the nine recommendations contained in the report relied on the evidence synthesized by a research team from the Institute for Work & Health.

Four themes emerged in an Institute for Work & Health study on the labour market experiences of newcomers to Canada: they have great difficulty finding work; their first jobs are often precarious; they rely heavily on community networks; and their knowledge of workplace health and safety is limited. The researchers suggest more settlement agencies offer OHS information as a regular part of their language training and employment preparation services, as some already do.

When someone gets injured, family members often rally to help with chores, shoulder the child- or elder-care burden, and cope with the financial impact. The support family members provide in the aftermath of an injury runs the gamut and yet is seldom formally acknowledged by compensation systems in policy or procedure. This is according to a study conducted in Australia by an IWH scientist while she was there on sabbatical.

Workplace violence is getting increasing attention, especially in sectors such as health care and education. On March 27, IWH Speaker Series presents Institute for Work & Health Senior Scientist Dr. Peter Smith, who will talk about two of his recent studies on differences in the risk of workplace violence for men and women. One examined the contribution of work-related factors to the risk of different types of violence, and the other examined risks in different Ontario industries.

Institute for Work & Health Scientist Dr. Andrea Furlan is among 12 pain experts in the United States and Canada to win a 2018-19 Mayday Pain and Society Fellowship. The 12 winners will attend a four-day workshop in Washington, D.C. to learn skills to effectively communicate and advocate for the translation of scientific research and evidence-based best practices in pain care and management.

As a result of efforts to stem the export of electronic waste to low- and middle-income countries, e-waste recycling is a growing industry in parts of Canada. At an IWH Speaker Series presentation on March 20, Dr. Victoria Arrandale of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre discusses the hazards faced by e-waste recycling workers. She focuses on the hazards of flame retardants, which have been linked to endocrine disruption, neurological outcomes and reproductive effects.

In 2016, IWH Scientist Dr. Lynda Robson created a model of “breakthrough change” based on her research into the critical factors behind large and sustained occupational health and safety improvements in organizations. In a new impact case study, Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS) Small Business Director Harry Stewart describes the many ways WSPS's small business strategy builds on that model, which he describes as the "foundation for how we’re moving forward." 

On May 8 and 9, 2018, join researchers, advocates and policy-makers in Toronto at the Work, Health and Migration Forum. The event, hosted by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, is examining the labour experiences of temporary foreign workers, new immigrants, refugees, working international students and undocumented migrants. IWH and Wellesley Institute are sponsoring the event.

Learn about the experiences of newcomers to Canada when looking for and finding a job–and what they’re told or not told about their health and safety rights and responsibilities. Read about a systematic review on the link between work outcomes and opioids prescribed to treat acute musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Find out the impact an injury can have on family members, and how compensation systems can respond to help improve recovery. And more ....

The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) is honoured to welcome Tom Zach to its Knowledge Transfer and Exchange Advisory Committee (KTEAC). Zach has worked as a communications professional within the public and private sectors for over 30 years. Currently, he is the director of government and stakeholder relations at the Public Services Health and Safety Association. He is there on secondment from his previous position as director of communications and marketing for the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Zach replaces Maria Papoutsis, who retired last year from her role as director of the Health and Safety Policy Branch at the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

How many workers in Ontario develop cancer due to work exposure to the sun every year? What about exposure to diesel exhaust or crystalline silica? In an ambitious collaborative project, a team of researchers from across Canada have sorted through census records going back 40 years to estimate the number of people exposed to carcinogens at work. Dr. Paul Demers, director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre and one of the scientists on the team, recently shared his methods and findings at an IWH Speakers Series presentation.

Learn about good practices for reducing work disability in an upcoming webinar by IWH Senior Scientist Dr. Emile Tompa and University of Waterloo’s Dr. Amin Yazdani. As part of their work on developing the Canadian Standard for Work Disability Prevention Management Systems, Tompa and Yazdani have conducted interviews with representatives of exemplary organizations, policy-makers, and program providers across Canada. They share findings of this environmental scan in a noon-hour webinar on February 23. And in a second webinar on March 2, the two are back to offer updates on the development of the standard. Both webinars are offered by the Centre of Researoch Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD). Both require registration.

Help us learn about current workplace strategies to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Take our survey, and tell us what MSD prevention practices you or your workplace are currently using, what is working and what is challenging. Your answers will help shape an easy-to-use free guide that details how to manage MSDs in the workplace, being developed by a team of researchers at IWH.

Can big data—and its less complex sibling, routine data—help prevent injuries and death? Yes, say Institute for Work & Health (IWH)'s Dr. Chris McLeod and Dr. Cameron Mustard in a January 28, 2018, article in the Journal of Commerce. Routine data has been put to productive use in Ontario, where the Ministry of Labour learned that falls from heights (more than three metres) were the biggest cause of traumatic death in the construction industry, says Mustard, president of IWH.

Many workplaces offer wellness programs and facilities that support physical activity near or at work. But do these offerings actually get workers to exercise more? IWH’s Mustard Post-doctoral Fellow Dr. Avi Biswas recently conducted a study on the link between access to such programs/facilities and the leisure time physical activity of employees. The results are encouraging. He shared his findings at a recent IWH presentation, now available as a slidecast.

"What is striking is how little high-quality evidence there is on the impacts of marijuana in the workplace and how inconsistent the existing data is. We urgently need high-quality observational research studies to be able to better understand the effects of marijuana on work. We also need to develop an accurate measure of impairment for use in Canadian workplaces."—Dr. Andrea Furlan and Dr. Nancy Carnide, in The Conversation, January 22, 2018

If you’re interested in preventing injuries among health-care workers, don’t miss two webinars being offered by the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) this month. On January 19, IWH Scientist Dr. Dwayne Van Eerd provides an overview of the latest evidence on awkward postures when handling clients or patients in a health-care setting. Then, on January 31, two CRE-MSD researchers review SafeBack and PostureCoach, two prototype smartphone apps designed to help health-care workers adopt safer postures. Both webinars require advanced registration.

People with disabilities have a tough time getting hired, research elsewhere has shown. Now, a new IWH study suggests that, when they do find jobs, they may be more vulnerable to workplace health and safety risks than their peers without disabilities. The study used an occupational health and safety (OHS) vulnerability framework developed at IWH. It found low OHS empowerment and inadequate OHS practices and policies were more prevalent among study participants with disabilities than those without.