Dr. Peter Smith
Dr. Peter Smith is scientific co-director and a senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto. He also holds appointments as an associate professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and in the School of Population Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in Australia.
Smith has a master's in public health from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and a PhD from the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto. He is a previous recipient of a five-year Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health (2014-2018) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),a CIHR New Investigator Award (2008-2013) and a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council (2012-2014).
Smith has extensive experience conducting research related to work injury and its consequences using large population-based surveys and administrative workers' compensation data. His key research interests include: gender and sex differences in the relationship between work and the risk of chronic disease and work injury; the nature and measurement of occupational health and safety vulnerability; return-to-work experiences for people with mental health conditions; and the long-term outcomes of injured workers.
“I don’t understand how people can think about health without thinking about work. Between our early 20s and our 60s – and later for some people – we spend most of our waking hours at work. It makes sense, then, that aspects of work must have an impact on different aspects of our health, both positively and negatively. That drives me to better understand what good work and bad work look like from a health and return-to-work perspective.” – Dr. Peter Smith
Research areas
Projects
- Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities (ACED): A partnership to deliver workplace resources to sustain employment of people with chronic, episodic conditions. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada Signature Initiative. Ongoing.
- Cannabis and workplace fatalities: establishing a baseline in Ontario. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Cannabis use and long-term recovery and return-to-work outcomes among Ontario injured workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Do work exposures and their effects differ for men and women? A systematic review. Funded by WorkSafeBC. Ongoing.
- ECHO OEM: Piloting a telementoring program in occupational and environmental medicine. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing.
Publications
- Fan J, Sim M, Lilley R, Wong IS, Smith PM. Sleep disturbances and disability following work-related injury and illness: examining longitudinal relationships across three follow-up waves. Journal of Sleep Research. 2021;30(3):e13124. doi:10.1111/jsr.13124.
- Jetha A, Shamaee A, Bonaccio S, Gignac MA, Tucker LB, Tompa E, Bultmann U, Norman CD, Banks CG, Smith PM. Fragmentation in the future of work: a horizon scan examining the impact of the changing nature of work on workers experiencing vulnerability. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2021 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1002/ajim.23262.
- Fan J, Macpherson RA, Smith PM, Harris MA, Gignac MA, McLeod K. Age differences in work-disability duration across Canada: examining variations by follow-up time and context. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 2021;31(2):339-349. doi:10.1007/s10926-020-09922-x.
- Lane TJ, Berecki-Gisolf J, Iles R, Smith PM, Collie A. The impact of long-term workers' compensation benefit cessation on welfare and health service use: protocol for a longitudinal controlled data linkage study. International Journal of Population Data Science. 2021;6(1):1419. doi:10.23889/ijpds.v6i1.1419.
- LaMontagne AD, Martin AJ, Page KM, Papas A, Reavley NJ, Noblet AJ, Milner AJ, Keegel T, Allisey A, Witt K, Smith PM. A cluster RCT to improve workplace mental health in a policing context: findings of a mixed-methods implementation evaluation. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2021;64(4):283-295. doi:10.1002/ajim.23217.
Speaker Series presentations
- Differences in the return-to-work process for work-related psychological and musculoskeletal conditions: findings from an Australian cohort. IWH Speaker Series. April 6, 2021.
- More than just COVID-19 prevention: Exploring the links between PPE, safe work protocols and workers' mental health. IWH Speaker Series. November 10, 2020.
- Reporting and consequences of workplace violence in six Ontario hospitals. IWH Speaker Series. May 22, 2018.
- Towards a better understanding of differences in the risk of workplace violence for men and women in Canada. IWH Speaker Series. March 27, 2018.
- Evaluating the impact of mandatory awareness training in Ontario. IWH Speaker Series. April 11, 2017.
Interviews and articles
- Weaker OHS procedures, policies explain small employers’ higher injury risks: study. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 104, Spring 2021.
- Work-related mental illnesses cost more than physical injuries do. Talent Canada. May 11, 2021. Available from: https://www.talentcanada.ca/work-related-mental-illnesses-cost-more-than-physical-injuries/
- Work-related mental illnesses cost more than physical injuries do. Talent Canada. May 11, 2021. Available from: https://www.talentcanada.ca/work-related-mental-illnesses-cost-more-than-physical-injuries/
- What research can do: Workplace COVID outbreaks reported by Ontario public health account for one in 20 cases in working-age adults. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 103, Winter 2021.
- Ontario locks down on Boxing Day, but essential workers still work. Without protections like paid sick leave, it just won’t work. Inside Halton. December 23, 2020. Available from: https://www.insidehalton.com/opinion-story/10296074-ontario-locks-down-on-boxing-day-but-essential-workers-still-work-without-protections-like-paid-sick-leave-it-just-won-t-work/