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
- Biswas A, Begum M, Van Eerd D, Johnston H, Smith PM, Gignac MA. Integrating safety and health promotion in workplaces: a scoping review of facilitators, barriers, and recommendations. Health Promotion Practice. 2021 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1177/15248399211028154.
- Havaei F, Smith PM, Oudyk J, Potter GG. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of nurses in British Columbia, Canada using trends analysis across three time points. Annals of Epidemiology. 2021;62:7-12. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2021.05.004.
- Mustard C, Nadalin V, Carnide N, Tompa E, Smith PM. Cohort profile: the Ontario Life After Workplace Injury Study (OLAWIS). BMJ Open. 2021;11(9):e048143. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048143.
- Somani R, Muntaner C, Hillan E, Velonis AJ, Smith PM. A systematic review: effectiveness of interventions to de-escalate workplace violence against nurses in healthcare settings. Safety and Health at Work. 2021;12(3):289-295. doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2021.04.004.
- 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.
Speaker Series presentations
- Workplace COVID-19 protections and transmission: Findings from population-level data in Canada. IWH Speaker Series. October 19, 2021.
- 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.
Interviews and articles
- What research can do: Partnering on a tool to estimate occupational risks of COVID. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 105, Summer 2021.
- Inadequate employment standards, OHS vulnerability add to higher injury risks. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 105, .
- 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/