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
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Cannabis use and long-term recovery and return-to-work outcomes among Ontario injured workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Understanding the long-term recovery and labour market outcomes of injured workers in Ontario. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario. Ongoing.
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Understanding the long-term recovery and labour market outcomes of injured workers in the shadow of COVID-19. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing.
- Project ECHO Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM): Implementation and evaluation. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing.
- Toking 9 to 5: Workplace cannabis use and perceptions among Canadian workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Gignac MA, Bowring J, Tonima S, Franche RL, Thompson A, Jetha A, Smith PM, MacDermid JC, Shaw WS, Van Eerd D, Beaton DE, Irvin E, Tompa E, Saunders R. A sensibility assessment of the Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT): a tool to help workers with an episodic disability plan workplace support. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. 2023;33(1):145-159. doi:10.1007/s10926-022-10057-4.
- Smith PM, Oudyk J, Cedillo L, Inouye K, Potter G, Mustard C. Perceived adequacy of infection control practices and symptoms of anxiety among in-person elementary school educators in Ontario. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2022;64(11):e763-e768. doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000002693.
- Padkapayeva K, Gilbert-Ouimet M, Mustard C, Glazier RH, Smith PM. The relationship between overqualification and incident diabetes: a 14-year follow-up study. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2022;84(6):719-726. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000001087.
- Yanar B, Nasir K, Massoud A, Usmani S, Premji S, Smith PM. Employers' experiences with safe work integration of recent immigrants and refugees. Safety Science. 2022;155:105856. doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105856.
- Carnide N, Lee H, Landsman V, Frone MR, Furlan AD, Smith PM. Cannabis use and workplace cannabis availability, perceptions and policies among Canadian workers: a comparison before and after the legalisation of non-medical cannabis. Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2022 epub ahead of print. doi:10.1136/oemed-2022-108316.
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
- Women in education sector at greater risk of workplace violence. Canadian Occupational Safety. August 31, 2018. Available from: https://www.cos-mag.com/psychological-health-safety/37860-women-in-education-sector-at-greater-risk-of-workplace-violence/
- Work-related stressors impact women and men differently, research finds. Workers Health & Safety Centre. August 28, 2018. Available from: https://www.whsc.on.ca/what-s-new/news-archive/work-related-stressors-impact-women-and-men-differ
- Sex/gender analysis: Are risks of violence at work higher for men or women? It depends on type of violence. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 93, Summer 2018.
- Sex/gender analysis: Links between psychosocial work factors and stress not always as expected. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 93, Summer 2018.
- Working overtime could raise women's diabetes risk. U.S. News & World Report. July 2, 2018. Available from: https://health.usnews.com/health-care/articles/2018-07-02/working-overtime-could-raise-womens-diabetes-risk