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
- Smith PM, Mustard C. Examining the associations between physical work demands and work injury rates between men and women in Ontario, 1990-2000. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2004;61(9):750-756. doi:10.1136/oem.2003.009860.
- Smith PM, Mustard C, Payne JI. Methods for estimating the labour force insured by the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board: 1990-2000. Chronic Diseases in Canada. 2004;25(4):127-137.
- Smith PM, Breslin FC, Beaton DE. Questioning the stability of sense of coherence--the impact of socio-economic status and working conditions in the Canadian population. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2003;38(9):475-484. doi:10.1007/s00127-003-0654-z.
- Breslin FC, Koehoorn M, Smith PM, Manno M. Age related differences in work injuries and permanent impairment: a comparison of workers' compensation claims among adolescents, young adults, and adults. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2003;60(9):E10-. doi:10.1136/oem.60.9.e10.
- Smith PM, Polanyi M. Social norms, social behaviours and health: an empirical examination of a model of social capital. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. 2003;27(4):456-463. doi:10.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00426.x.
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
- Increasing psychological demands elevate risk of depression. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 67, Winter 2012.
- A tough nut to crack: Understanding no-lost-time claims in Ontario. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 66, Fall 2011.
- IWH provides expertise to Ministry of Labour panel. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 62, Fall 2010.
- Immigrant workers experience different health and safety issues. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 53, Summer 2008.
- Only one in five new workers receives safety training. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 48, Spring 2007.