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
- Cost to Canadians of excluding people with disabilities from the labour market . Funded by Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy. Completed. (PI on the project)
- Estimating the financial benefits of OHS prevention expenditures: a study of Ontario employers. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario. Completed.
- Evaluating prevention strategies to reduce the risk of work-related cancers in Ontario’s construction sector. Funded by European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Completed. (PI on the project)
- Assessing the human and economic burden of workplace cancer in Canada. Funded by Canadian Cancer Society. Completed. (PI on the project)
- Best practices for work disability prevention management systems: a scoping review in support of new Canadian standard. Completed. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Williams AM, Tompa E, Lero DS, Fast J, Yazdani A, Zeytinoglu IU. Evaluation of caregiver-friendly workplace policy (CFWPs) interventions on the health of full-time caregiver employees (CEs): implementation and cost-benefit analysis. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1):728. doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4722-9.
- Lay M, Saunders R, Lifshen M, Breslin FC, LaMontagne AD, Tompa E, Smith PM. The relationship between occupational health and safety vulnerability and workplace injury. Safety Science. 2017;94:85. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2016.12.021.
- Roseboom KJ, van Dongen JM, Tompa E, van Tulder MW, Bosmans JE. Economic evaluations of health technologies in Dutch healthcare decision-making: a qualitative study of the current and potential use, barriers, and facilitators. BMC Health Services Research. 2017;17(1):89. doi:10.1186/s12913-017-1986-9.
- MacEachen E, Du B, Bartel E, Ekberg K, Tompa E, Kosny A, Petricone I, Stapleton J. Scoping review of work disability policies and programs. International Journal of Disability Management. 2017;12(0):1. doi:10.1017/idm.2017.1.
- Padkapayeva K, Posen A, Yazdani A, Buettgen A, Mahood Q, Tompa E. Workplace accommodations for persons with physical disabilities: evidence synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2017;39(21):2134. doi:10.1080/09638288.2016.1224276.
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
- Work-related skin cancer among construction workers set to double by 2060. Daily Commercial News. July 21, 2021. Available from: https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/ohs/2021/07/work-related-skin-cancer-among-construction-workers-set-to-double-by-2060
- Impact of COVID, and signs of progress, in the spotlight at disabilities and work conference. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 103, Winter 2021.
- Comparing the costs, benefits of silica dust prevention methods for construction workers. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 101, Summer 2020.
- Strategy launched for greater workforce inclusion of people with disabilities. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 99, Winter 2020.
- Estimating the societal costs of work injuries and illnesses in five EU countries. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 99, Winter 2020.