Dr. Peter Smith
Dr. Peter Smith is president and senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto, and a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Prior to moving into the president's role in January 2022, Smith was IWH's scientific co-director.
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 former recipient of a New Investigator Award (2008-2013) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council (2012-2014), and a five-year CIHR Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health (2014-2018).
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 health; labour market inequalities and their health-related outcomes; 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
Projects
- Developing a framework for understanding and measuring OHS vulnerability. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Completed. (PI on the project)
- Ontario Leading Indicators Project. Completed.
Publications
- Buchan SA, Smith PM, Warren C, Murti M, Mustard C, Kim JH, Menon S, Brown KA, Van Ingen T, Smith BT. Incidence of outbreak-associated COVID-19 cases by industry in Ontario, Canada, 1 April 2020-31 March 2021. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2022;79(6):403-411. doi:10.1136/oemed-2021-107879.
- Mawani FN, O'Campo P, Smith PM. Opportunity costs: underemployment and mental health inequities between immigrant and Canadian-born labour force participants: a cross-sectional study. Journal of International Migration and Integration. 2022;23:1443–1470. doi:10.1007/s12134-021-00896-0.
- Smith PM, Oudyk J. Assessing the psychometric properties of the Guarding Minds @ Work questionnaire recommended in the Canadian Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Quality & Quantity. 2022;56(5):3111–3133. doi:10.1007/s11135-021-01269-6.
- Nadalin V, Mustard C, Smith PM. The impact of adverse employment and working conditions on the risk of workplace injury in Canada. Safety and Health at Work. 2021;12(4):471-478. doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2021.07.002.
- Gibbs BB, Diaz KM, Kowalsky RJ, Smith PM, Stoner L. Association of standing with cardiovascular disease and mortality in adults. Current Epidemiology Reports. 2021;8:200–211. doi:10.1007/s40471-021-00276-3.
Speaker Series 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
- 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, Summer 2021.
- How to take care of your body if you stand all day at work. Vice. July 15, 2021. Available from: https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7epy3/how-to-prevent-pain-injury-fatigue-health-problems-if-you-stand-all-day-at-work
- 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/