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

A woman takes notes at a desk while attending a videoconference on the computer monitor

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.

Black silhouettes of two women in dialogue, with colourful speech bubbles above them

Getting the message right: strategies to improve return-to-work communication

Communication is central to disability management—especially in large and complex organizations where multiple parties are involved in the return-to-work process and inconsistent practices can add to communication challenges. What effective RTW strategies do these organizations use?

A long-term care worker pushes a resident in a wheelchair down the hall

Implementing participatory ergonomics in the long-term care sector

It can be challenging to tackle long-standing musculoskeletal hazards in busy, high turnover settings such as long-term care homes. Despite this, an IWH study finds a participatory approach—one that involves frontline workers—can be successfully implemented and sustained.

Featured impact case study

Featured impact case study