Plain-language summaries

Institute for Work & Health (IWH) plain-language summaries condense research findings in various formats. At Work articles explain study results with comments from the study leads. Research Highlights summarize journal articles in easy-to-read, digest formats. Sharing Best Evidence summaries highlight findings from systematic reviews and other types of reviews conducted or led by IWH researchers. Issue Briefings discuss key research findings from IWH or elsewhere on topics that are of particular interest to policy-makers.

Research Highlights

Only one in five new workers receive safety training in Canada

Despite the legal requirement in most provinces for employers to provide health and safety to new workers, only one in five new workers actually receive such training, study finds.
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Research Highlights

Workers with back injuries show four recovery patterns

People with back injuries may experience different patterns of recovery. Knowing how people recover may help clinicians who treat patients with back injuries.
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Research Highlights

Disability management programs differ greatly in Ontario health-care sector

Health-care workers are more likely to miss work because of illness and disability than workers in other sectors. This study compares disability management practices across four types of health-care workplaces: hospitals, nursing homes, private clinics and community clinics.
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Research Highlights

Youth injury rates vary across Ontario regions

A study examining work injury rates for 15- to 24-year-olds in 46 regions across Ontario finds great variation rates among young workers vary greatly across the province.
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At Work article

IWH research adds to body of knowledge on MSDs

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At Work article

Health, safety partners make MSD prevention a priority

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At Work article

Reviews show ergonomics’ role in MSD prevention

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At Work article

Centre links MSD researchers from many disciplines

The number of researchers studying the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is limited. This is why one goal of the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD)* is to strengthen collaborations in this field. IWH scientists are involved with several projects co-ordinated through the centre.
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At Work article

Doctors’ network promotes back pain evidence among peers

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At Work article

What works to reduce the burden of workplace MSDs?

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A faceless picture of five young people
Sharing Best Evidence

Summary of a systematic review of factors associated with occupational disease among young people

Young workers are more likely than older workers to sustain work injuries, and as a result, significant resources have been spent on young worker safety programs. This systematic review takes a comprehensive look at the factors that lead young workers to get injured.
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At Work article

Understanding workplace needs shapes IWH’s research agenda

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At Work article

Scientist-worker alliance to study work injury

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At Work article

Systematic reviews now under one umbrella

Recently, the Institute consolidated its various review activities into a new Systematic Reviews Program, with special emphasis on preventive interventions in the workplace and with a new emphasis on consulting stakeholders.
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At Work article

Four roundtables, 50 voices: Moving from research evidence to action

The Institute and the Research Secretariat of Ontario’s Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) organize a series of Roundtables to identify common research needs and to discuss better ways to cultivate the researcher and decision-maker relationship.
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At Work article

Our partners provide important guidance to systematic reviews

Practitioners bring their expertise to the table and provide important feedback at several stages of the systematic review process.
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At Work article

New centre aims to improve return-to-work outcomes

The newly-opened Centre for Research Expertise in Improving Disability Outcomes (CREIDO) will focus on the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of chronic MSK pain and disability.
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At Work article

Young worker injury – it’s the job that matters

In terms of injury risk, the type of job or workplace matters more than the nature of the young workers themselves.
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At Work article

Systematic review finds little evidence in support of back belts

Is wearing a back belt really effective in preventing and/or reducing occupational low-back pain? According to a new systematic review by researchers at the Institute for Work & Health, there is limited evidence to support their use.
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