Dr. Emile Tompa
Dr. Emile Tompa is a senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health. He holds appointments as an associate professor in the Department of Economics at McMaster University and as an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Tompa is a labour and health economist with an MBA from the University of British Columbia, an MA in economics from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in economics from McMaster University.
Tompa’s research interests include the consequences of occupational health and safety system design on the health and well-being of individuals and populations, the economic evaluation of workplace interventions for improving the health and well-being of workers, the economic burden of adverse health conditions and disability, and the analysis of disability policy systems. Most recently, Tompa received a six-year funding envelope as the nominated principal applicant from the New Frontiers in Research Fund Transformation Stream for a social innovation laboratory called Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA). The initiative is focused on skilling up employers to advance their abilities to tap into diverse talent pools, with a focus on persons with disabilities.
“How to get the most for the least, that’s the basis for economics. I am interested in analyzing issues related to occupational health and safety and work disability prevention and management from the standpoint of this basic challenge.” – Dr. Emile Tompa
Projects
- Policies and practices on the accommodation of people with visible disabilities in the workplace . Funded by Employment and Social Development Canada. Completed. (PI on the project)
- Breakthrough change: understanding why and how workplaces make large improvements in OHS performance. Funded by Workplace Safety & Insurance Board of Ontario's Research Advisory Committee, Ontario Ministry of Labour. Completed.
- Developing a framework for understanding and measuring OHS vulnerability. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Completed.
- Occupational health and safety interventions with economic evaluations: a systematic review. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario. Completed. (PI on the project)
- Factors associated with occupational disease among young people: a systematic review. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario. Completed.
Publications
- Tompa E, Scott-Marshall H, Fang M. Social protection and the employment contract: the impact on work absence. Work. 2010;37(3):251-260. doi:10.3233/WOR-2010-1077.
- Tompa E, Dolinschi R, de Oliveira C, Amick B, Irvin E. A systematic review of workplace ergonomic interventions with economic analyses. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 2010;20(2):220-234. doi:10.1007/s10926-009-9210-3.
- Tompa E, Verbeek J, van Tulder MW, de Boer A. Developing guidelines for good practice in the economic evaluation of occupational safety and health interventions. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. 2010;36(4):313-318.
- Tompa E, Dolinschi R, de Oliveira C, Irvin E. A systematic review of occupational health and safety interventions with economic analyses. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2009;51(9):1004-1023. doi:10.1097/JOM.0b013e3181b34f60.
- Tompa E, Dolinschi R, Laing AC. An economic evaluation of a participatory ergonomics process in an auto parts manufacturer. Journal of Safety Research. 2009;40(1):41-47.
Speaker Series presentations
- Systematic review of the effectiveness of OHS regulatory enforcement. IWH Speaker Series. May 5, 2015.
- Income security and labour-market engagement: Envisioning the future of work disability policy in Canada. IWH Speaker Series. February 11, 2014.
- Work disability trajectories under three workers' compensation programs. IWH Speaker Series. April 2, 2013.
- The impact of temporary employment and job tenure on sickness absence. IWH Speaker Series. May 4, 2010.
Interviews and articles
- Research on silica exposure controls finds PPE comes at a cost. Workers Health & Safety Centre. December 7, 2018. Available from: https://www.whsc.on.ca/What-s-new/News-Archive/Research-on-silica-exposure-controls-finds-PPE-com
- What research can do: IWH estimate of societal costs helps Ottawa make case for asbestos ban. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 93, Summer 2018.
- Benefits outweigh costs for workplaces that accommodate people with mental illness. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 93, Summer 2018.
- Hidden costs of skin cancer caused by workplace sun exposure revealed. Science Daily. April 26, 2018. Available from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180426085524.htm
- IWH study estimates costs of non-melanoma skin cancers due to sun exposure at work . At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 92, Spring 2018.