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 an evidence base on sex/gender differences in the relationship between working conditions and injury risk, chronic illnesses and return to work. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Completed. (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. Completed. (PI on the project)
- IWH Organizational Performance Metric: Developing and evaluating a simple workplace OHS tool. Funded by Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, Ontario Ministry of Labour. Completed.
- Exploring the relationship between prolonged standing and prolonged sitting at work and heart disease among male and female workers. Completed. (PI on the project)
- Incidence of work-related aggression and violence in Canada. Funded by Ontario Ministry of Labour. Completed. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Smith PM, Smith BT, Warren C, Shahidi FV, Buchan S, Mustard C. The prevalence and correlates of workplace infection control practices in Canada between July and September 2020. Health Reports. 2021 . doi:10.25318/82-003-x202101100002-eng.
- Biswas A, Harbin S, Irvin E, Johnston H, Begum M, Tiong M, Apedaile D, Koehoorn M, Smith PM. Sex and gender differences in occupational hazard exposures: a scoping review of the recent literature. Current Environmental Health Reports. 2021;8(4):267-280. doi:10.1007/s40572-021-00330-8.
- 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.
Speaker Series presentations
- Refining estimates of occupational exposures and risk of workplace COVID-19 transmission. IWH Speaker Series. January 16, 2024.
- Building on the past, looking to the future: Presenting the IWH Strategic Plan, 2023-27. IWH Speaker Series. May 23, 2023.
- 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.
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/