Cost and benefits

Questions about costs and benefits sometimes matter to practitioners and policy-makers in occupational health and safety and disability management. Economic evaluation studies at IWH calculate the costs and benefits of injury, illness and disability prevention programs, both workplace-based and at the systems level. Findings from these studies, and discussions about how and what to measure in economic evaluations, are pulled together here.

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IWH in the media

Asbestos-related cancer costs Canada billions

A first-ever estimate of the toll of asbestos-related cancers on society pegs the cost of new cases at $1.7-billion per year in Canada, and notes that is likely an under-estimate.
Published: The Globe and Mail, June 2016
Project report
Project report

Economic burden of lung cancer and mesothelioma in Canada due to occupational asbestos exposure (2016)

This June 2016 presentation provides an early look at the results of an economic burden study on the costs to Canadian society of new cases of lung cancers and mesothelioma attributable to occupational asbestos exposures in a particular year.
Published: June 2016
Two health-care workers lean on each other, smiling
At Work article

Peer coaching on patient lifts lowers injury, but at a small cost

An IWH cost-benefit analysis finds a training program on patient lifts is nearly cost-neutral while lowering injury rates by a third.
Published: April 2016
Project
Project

Cost to Canadians of excluding people with disabilities from the labour market

What is the cost to Canadians of excluding people with disabilities from fully participating in the paid labour market? An IWH research team is coming up with the answer.
Status: Completed 2022
Project report
Project report

Economic burden of lung cancer and mesothelioma in Canada due to occupational asbestos exposure (2015)

This November 2015 presentation provides an early look at the results of an economic burden study on the costs to Canadian society of new cases of lung cancers and mesothelioma attributable to occupational asbestos exposures in a particular year.
Published: November 2015
Project
Project

Employer investments in occupational health and safety: establishing benchmarks for Ontario

How much are Ontario employers investing in health and safety in their workplaces. An IWH research team went right to the source, surveying Ontario employers about their firm-level spending on five dimensions of health and safety.
Status: Completed 2017
Journal article
Journal article

A systematic review of workplace ergonomic interventions with economic analyses

Published: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, June 2010
At Work article
At Work article

Easy-to-use tool measures benefits and costs of OHS initiatives

The Institute for Work & Health introduces the Health & Safety Smart Planner – a new, user-friendly tool that is designed to help workplaces understand the full benefits and costs of occupational health and safety programs and interventions.
Published: February 2010
Journal article
Journal article

A systematic review of occupational health and safety interventions with economic analyses

Published: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, September 2009