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
- 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.
- Exploring where Canadians work and live and their association with active transportation. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Future-proofing young Canadians with disabilities for the changing labour market. Funded by New Frontiers in Research Fund (a Tri-Agency Program—CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). Ongoing.
- Intelligent machines and human worker inequities: examining the implications of AI in the workplace. Funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC); Future Skills Centre. Ongoing.
- Occupational injury risks in Ontario. Funded by Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD). Ongoing. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Hogg-Johnson S, Robson LS, Cole DC, Amick B, Tompa E, Smith PM, Van Eerd D, Mustard C. A randomised controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted occupational health and safety consultation or inspection in Ontario manufacturing workplaces. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2012;69(12):890-900. doi:10.1136/oemed-2011-100333.
- Mustard C, Chambers A, McLeod CB, Bielecky A, Smith PM. Comparison of data sources for the surveillance of work injury. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2012;69(5):317-324. doi:10.1136/oemed-2011-100222.
- Smith PM, Hogg-Johnson S, Mustard C, Chen C, Tompa E. Comparing the risk factors associated with serious versus and less serious work-related injuries in Ontario between 1991 and 2006. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2012;55:84-91. doi:10.1002/ajim.21000.
- Smith BT, Smith PM, Etches J, Mustard C. Overqualification and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: evidence from the Canadian census mortality follow-up study. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 2012;103(4):297-302.
- LaMontagne AD, Smith PM, Louie AM, Quinlan M, Ostry A, Shoveller J. Psychosocial and other working conditions: variation by employment arrangement in a sample of working Australians. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2012;55(2):93-106. doi:10.1002/ajim.21038.
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
- 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