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
- Breslin FC, Smith PM, Mustard C, Zhao R. Young people and work injuries: an examination of jurisdictional variation within Canada. Injury Prevention. 2006;12(2):105-110. doi:10.1136/ip.2005.009449.
- Breslin FC, Smith PM, Koehoorn M, Lee H. Is the workplace becoming safer?. Perspectives on Labour and Income. 2006;7(7):18-23.
- Breslin FC, Smith PM. Trial by fire: a multivariate examination of the relation between job tenure and work injuries. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2006;63(1):27-32.
- Smith PM, Frank JW. When aspirations and achievements don't meet. A longitudinal examination of the differential effect of education and occupational attainment on declines in self-rated health among Canadian labour force participants. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2005;34(4):827-834. doi:10.1093/ije/dyi047.
- Breslin FC, Smith PM. Age-related differences in work injuries: a multivariate, population-based study. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2005;48(1):50-56. doi:10.1002/ajim.20185.
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
- Injuries at work may increase risk of losing one's job. Reuters Health. February 5, 2016. Available from: http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-workplace-injury-idUKKCN0VE2MW
- Distinct types of OHS vulnerability seen in young, temporary, small business employees. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 82, Fall 2015.
- The vulnerable worker. OOHNA Journal . October 27, 2015. Available from: https://www.iwh.on.ca/sites/iwh/files/oohna_journal_fw_2015_vulnerability.pdf
- Line blurred between lost-time, no lost-time claims: Study. Canadian Occupational Safety: Thomson Reuters Canada (Toronto, ON). September 15, 2015. Available from: http://www.cos-mag.com/safety/safety-stories-exclusive/4664-line-blurred-between-lost-time-no-lost-time-claims-study.html
- Study: Time-loss injuries may depend on work demands, premium rates. Canadian Occupational Health & Safety News: Business Information Group (Toronto, ON). April 24, 2015. Available from: https://www.ohscanada.com/study-time-loss-injuries-may-depend-on-work-demands-premium-rates-2/