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
- Validation study of Occupational Stress Injury Resiliency Tool. Funded by Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD), Public Services Health & Safety Association (PSHSA). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- What are the long-term health and labour market outcomes of workers who experienced work-related COVID-19 transmission?. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Do work exposures and their effects differ for men and women? A systematic review. Funded by WorkSafeBC. Completed.
- Improving information on the incidence of work-related injuries and illnesses in Ontario. Funded by Ontario Ministry of Labour Research Opportunities Program . Completed.
- Developing recommendations for an integrated approach to workplace health protection and health promotion. Funded by Alberta OHS Future. Completed.
Publications
- Smith PM, Chen C, Mustard C, Hogg-Johnson S, Tompa E. The relationship between worker, occupational and workplace characteristics and whether an injury requires time off work: a matched case-control analysis in Ontario, Canada. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2015;58(4):402-410. doi:10.1002/ajim.22420.
- Mustard C, Chambers A, Ibrahim S, Etches J, Smith PM. Time trends in musculoskeletal disorders attributed to work exposures in Ontario using three independent data sources, 2004-2011. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2015;72(4):252-257. doi:10.1136/oemed-2014-102442.
- Rueda S, Smith PM, Bekele T, O'Brien K, Husbands W, Li A, Jose-Boerbridge M, Mittmann N, Rachlis A, Conyers L, Boomer KB, Rourke SB. Is any job better than no job? Labor market experiences and depressive symptoms in people living with HIV. AIDS Care. 2015;27(7):907-915. doi:10.1080/09540121.2015.1015479.
- Berecki-Gisolf J, Smith PM, Collie A, McClure RJ. Gender differences in occupational injury incidence. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2015;58(3):299-307. doi:10.1002/ajim.22414.
- Smith PM, Berecki-Gisolf J. Age, occupational demands and the risk of serious work injury. Occupational Medicine. 2014;64(8):571-578. doi:10.1093/occmed/kqu125.
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
- Change with the times: Chronic conditions hint at the need for tailored injury prevention efforts. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 69, Summer 2012.
- Female nurses working nights weigh [slightly] more than those working days. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 72, Spring 2013.
- Work environment may up risk of hypertension in men. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 72, Spring 2013.
- Over-qualified recent immigrant men at increased risk of job injury. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 70, Fall 2012.
- Work environment may put women at risk of diabetes. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 70, Fall 2012.