Dr. Peter Smith
Dr. Peter Smith is an associate scientific 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. In 2014, he was awarded a five-year Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health (2014-2018) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He is the former recipient of 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; labour market inequalities and their health-related outcomes; the labour market experiences of newcomers, older workers, younger workers and other vulnerable labour force subgroups; chronic illnesses and work injury; and trends in working conditions over time.
“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.
- Developing a gender/sex-sensitive evidence base on relationship between psychosocial work environment and chronic disease. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Evaluating the impact of mandatory awareness training on occupational health and safety vulnerability in Ontario. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ontario Ministry of Labour's Research Opportunities Program. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of Ontario’s working-at-heights training standard . Funded by Ontario Ministry of Labour. Ongoing.
- Improving information on the incidence of work-related injuries and illnesses in Ontario. Funded by Ontario Ministry of Labour Research Opportunities Program . Ongoing.
Publications
- Smith PM, Cawley C, Williams A, Mustard C. Male/female differences in the impact of caring for elderly relatives on labor market attachment and hours of work: 1997-2015. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 2019 [Epub ahead of print]. doi:.
- Ramkissoon A, Smith PM, Oudyk J. Dissecting the effect of workplace exposures on workers' rating of psychological health and safety. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2019 [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1002/ajim.22964.
- Black O, Sim MR, Collie A, Smith PM. Differences over time in the prognostic effect of return to work self-efficacy on a sustained return to work. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 2019 [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1007/s10926-018-09824-z.
- Gignac MA, Smith PM, Ibrahim S, Kristman V, Beaton DE, Mustard C. Retirement expectations of older workers with arthritis and diabetes compared with those of workers with no chronic diseases. Canadian Journal on Aging. 2019 [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1017/S0714980818000685.
- Yanar B, Lay M, Smith PM. The interplay between supervisor safety support and occupational health and safety vulnerability on work injury. Safety and Health at Work. 2018 [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2018.11.001.
Presentations
- 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.
- Understanding return to work in MSD claims versus psychological injuries, for younger workers versus older workers . IWH Speaker Series. September 29, 2015.
- Developing a measure of OHS vulnerability. IWH Speaker Series. January 20, 2015.
Interviews and articles
- Supportive supervisors help reduce risks when workers face hazards, lack protection . At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 95, Winter 2019.
- Women four times more likely to experience sexual assault at work. The Conversation. January 22, 2019. Available from: https://theconversation.com/women-four-times-more-likely-to-experience-sexual-assault-at-work-108380
- Sitting or standing too much at work? New video addresses ways to lower associated health risks. Safety + Health. December 27, 2018. Available from: https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/17906-sitting-or-standing-too-much-at-work-new-video-addresses-ways-to-lower-associated-health-risks
- Slight improvements seen in workplace psychosocial conditions over 10 years. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 94, Fall 2018.
- Developing a new screening tool of psychosocial hazards . At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 94, Fall 2018.