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 approaches to measuring the dimensions of gender and their relationship to health outcomes. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Evaluating hazard awareness and mitigation training in Northern Ontario workplaces. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Evaluating the effectiveness of distance learning in delivering Ontario's JHSC certification training. Funded by Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. Ongoing.
- Examining sex/gender differences in exposures to workplace-acquired communicable disease: a systematic review. Funded by WorkSafeBC. Ongoing.
- Exploring how daily patterns of sleep and activity affect the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality among Canadian workers . Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research . Ongoing.
Publications
- Smith PM, Gilbert-Ouimet M, Brisson C, Glazier RH, Mustard C. Examining the relationship between the demand-control model and incident myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure in a representative sample of the employed women and men in Ontario, Canada, over a 15-year period. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 2020;112(2):280-288. doi:10.17269/s41997-020-00378-3.
- Kosny A, Yanar B, Begum M, Al-khooly D, Premji S, Lay M, Smith PM. Safe employment integration of recent immigrants and refugees. Journal of International Migration and Integration. 2020;21(3):807-827. doi:10.1007/s12134-019-00685-w.
- Dobson KG , Gilbert-Ouimet M, Mustard C, Smith PM. Body mass index trajectories among the Canadian workforce and their association with work environment trajectories over 17 years. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2020;77(6):374-380. doi:10.1136/oemed-2019-106023.
- Macpherson RA, Amick B, Collie A, Hogg-Johnson S, Koehoorn M, Smith PM, McLeod CB. Urban-rural differences in the duration of injury-related work disability in six Canadian provinces. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2020;62(5):e200-e207. doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000001850.
- Tait CA, L'Abbe MR, Smith PM, Watson T, Kornas K, Rosella LC. Adherence to predefined dietary patterns and risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the Canadian adult population. Canadian Journal of Diabetes. 2020;44(2):175-183. doi:10.1016/j.jcjd.2019.06.002.
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.
Research summaries
- OHS vulnerability as defined by IWH tool linked to self-reported injury rates. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, February 2017.
- Key differences found in return-to-work process for MSD and psychological claims. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, August 2016.
- Distinct types of OHS vulnerability seen in young, temporary, small business employees. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, November 2015.
- IWH research on vulnerable workers leads to tool for measuring risk factors. At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, April 2015.
- Premium rates, work demands play role in whether injuries involve time loss . At Work article: Institute for Work & Health, February 2015.
Media coverage
- Understanding challenges in hospitals' workplace violence reporting systems. Contact. April 3, 2020. Available from: https://www.csse.org/document/6319/Contact-Spring-2020.pdf
- Workplace violence solutions for schools central to recent ETFO symposium. Workers Health & Safety Centre. February 5, 2020. Available from: https://www.whsc.on.ca/What-s-new/News-Archive/Workplace-violence-solutions-for-schools-central-to-recent-ETFO-symposium
- Protecting minds a priority in changing times . OHS Canada. November 29, 2019. Available from: https://www.ohscanada.com/features/protecting-minds-priority-changing-times/
- As teachers report more violent incidents in schools, boards struggle. The Globe and Mail. September 7, 2019. Available from: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/education/article-as-teachers-report-more-violent-incidents-in-schools-boards-struggle/
- Implications of an aging workforce for work injury, recovery, returning to work and remaining at work. OOHNA Journal. April 10, 2019. Available from: https://www.iwh.on.ca/sites/iwh/files/oohna_journal_fw_2019_agingrtw.pdf