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
- Smith BT, Smith PM, Harper S, Manuel DG, Mustard C. Reducing social inequalities in health: the role of simulation modelling in chronic disease epidemiology to evaluate the impact of population health interventions. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2013;68(4):384-389. doi:10.1136/jech-2013-202756.
- Murray E, Franche RL, Ibrahim S, Smith PM, Carnide N, Cote P, Gibson J, Guzman J, Koehoorn M, Mustard C. Pain-related work interference is a key factor in a worker/workplace model of work absence duration due to musculoskeletal conditions in Canadian nurses. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 2013;23(4):585-596. doi:10.1007/s10926-012-9408-7.
- Smith PM, Bielecky A, Ibrahim S, Mustard C, Scott-Marshall H, Saunders R, Beaton DE. How much do preexisting chronic conditions contribute to age differences in health care expenditures after a work-related musculoskeletal injury?. Medical Care. 2013;52(1):71-77. doi:10.1097/MLR.0000000000000017.
- Kennedy CA, Beaton DE, Smith PM, Van Eerd D, Tang K, Inrig T, Hogg-Johnson S, Linton D, Couban R. Measurement properties of the QuickDASH (Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand) outcome measure and cross-cultural adaptations of the QuickDASH: a systematic review. Quality of Life Research. 2013;22(9):2509-2547. doi:10.1007/s11136-013-0362-4.
- MacFarlane EM, Smith PM, Keegel T. Chemical control measures for dermal exposure in Australian workplaces. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2013;55(11):1345-1349. doi:10.1097/JOM.0b013e3182a2a5c5.
Speaker Series presentations
- Examining gender/sex differences in work injury risk, consequences of work injury and the relationship between work stress and chronic disease. IWH Speaker Series. October 14, 2014.
- The impact of job strain on the risk of depression. IWH Speaker Series. October 25, 2011.
- Examining changes in injuries submitted as no-lost-time claims in Ontario between 1991 and 2006. IWH Speaker Series. October 12, 2010.
- Examining trends in no-lost-time claims in Ontario, 1991-2006. IWH Speaker Series. March 31, 2009.
- An examination of the working conditions and risk factors for work-related injuries among immigrant workers in Ontario. IWH Speaker Series. February 3, 2009.
Interviews and articles
- IWH Updates. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 91, Winter 2018.
- IWH study examines effect of Ontario’s mandatory OHS training on awareness. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 89, Summer 2017.
- Standing too long at work carries twice the risk of heart disease as sitting too long. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 90, Fall 2017.
- Study on prolonged standing and heart disease: Setting the record straight. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 90, Fall 2017.
- No, a standing desk isn't as unhealthy as smoking. The Guardian: Guardian News and Media (London). September 21, 2017. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2017/sep/21/no-a-standing-desk-isnt-as-unhealthy-as-smoking