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.
Featured
IWH Speaker Series
Estimating the financial benefits of OHS spending: a study of Ontario employers
Published: February 14, 2023
IWH Speaker Series
Development and implementation of a framework for estimating the economic benefits of an accessible and inclusive society
Published: February 8, 2022
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
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
Project
Project
Assessing the human and economic burden of workplace cancer in Canada
Status: Completed 2020
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