Organizational context
Organizational contexts—for example, workplace size, sector and jurisdiction—can shape employer responses to occupational health and safety (OHS). They can also affect organizations’ ability to support employees living with disabling health conditions to stay at work or return to work after an absence. Our research seeks to better understand how these contexts may influence the effectiveness of programs and policies to prevent work injuries and improve OHS and return-to-work outcomes, with a special emphasis on the needs of small business.
Latest findings
Safer work practices, lower injury rates maintained two years after Ontario’s working-at-heights training came into effect: study
In 2015, the Ontario government implemented a working-at-heights (WAH) training standard to ramp up fall prevention efforts. An IWH study team has now gathered two additional years of data on the effectiveness of this training requirement—both on work practices and injury rates.
Police service members face challenges with accommodation, communication and trust when returning to work after an injury
A recent IWH study examined the experiences of sworn and civilian Ontario police service members returning to their jobs after experiencing an injury or illness. It found their RTW challenges revolved around five main themes.
Comparing real-time online work-related training with face-to-face formats
Work-related training delivered through synchronous online formats can be just as effective as face-to-face training in building workers’ knowledge or skills. This is based on a relatively sparse body of research looking at training aimed at adult learners at the undergraduate level or higher.Featured impact case study
An IWH study on the effectiveness of Ontario's mandatory training was valuable to the labour ministry in several ways—including in reinforcing the value of program evaluations.
Featured impact case study
Needing a tool to measure the OHS performance of its members firms, the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association turned to the Institute's easy-to-use, eight-item IWH-OPM.
