COVID-19
COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. In short order, the world of work changed dramatically in Canada. Non-essential businesses were locked down. Some workers lost their jobs; others were sent home to work. Despite protections, workers in sectors ranging from health care to transportation to food production and retail faced risk of infection, illness and even death. IWH research examines the impact of the pandemic on workers and workplaces, as well as the lessons for work and health policy-makers to prepare for the next pandemic.
Featured
At Work article
What can work-related COVID-19 cases tell us about how to prepare for the next pandemic?
A new study by IWH combined data sources to estimate work-related COVID-19 infection rates, using a method that took into account major shifts in where people worked.
Published: February 6, 2024
IWH Speaker Series
Refining estimates of occupational exposures and risk of workplace COVID-19 transmission
Published: January 16, 2024
IWH in the media
Analyzing the data behind workplace spread of COVID-19
According to a pair of studies conducted jointly by the Institute for Work & Health and Public Health Ontario, layers of COVID-19 infection control measures were adopted in majority of workplaces through pandemic during the second and third waves. And between April 2020 and March 2021, rates of workplace COVID-19 transmission in most sectors were lower than rates of community spread.
Published: OHS Canada, December 2021
At Work article
What research can do: Scanning how OHS authorities responded to the pandemic
A new Issue Briefing looks at common challenges in the way labour inspection authorities in developed countries around the world have responded to the pandemic
Published: December 2021
At Work article
In most sectors, workplaces saw lower COVID transmission rates than in the community
What was the role of workplaces in contributing to COVID-19 case counts in Ontario? And what measures did workplaces across Canada put in place to reduce or prevent COVID spread? A team at IWH and Public Health Ontario draw on population-level data to find out.
Published: November 2021
IWH in the media
Lessons from COVID-19 for the next pandemic: We need better data on workplace transmission
If we had, from the early days of the pandemic, routinely and systematically collected information from COVID-positive people about their work, we would have enhanced our understanding of the role of workplaces in the spread of COVID-19, the relative importance of mitigation strategies, and potentially allowed more people to continue working at the workplace with minimal risk. That's according to an op-ed co-authored by Institute for Work & Health's Dr. Peter Smith, Prof. Andrew Curran of the United Kingdom's Health and Safety Executive, and Dr. Letitia Davis of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Published: The Conversation, November 2021
Journal article
Journal article
The prevalence and correlates of workplace infection control practices in Canada between July and September 2020
Published: Health Reports, November 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Depression, anxiety and stress among Swedish university students during the second and third waves of COVID-19: a cohort study
Published: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, November 2021
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Workplace COVID-19 protections and transmission: Findings from population-level data in Canada
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health strategies to reduce the spread of the coronavirus recognized workplaces as a potential site of transmission. However, there remain large information gaps about workplace COVID-19 protection practices and COVID-19 transmission at work. In this presentation, Dr. Peter Smith shares findings from two recently completed studies from a collaboration between the Institute for Work & Health and Public Health Ontario. The first describes the type and prevalence of infection control practices at work sites that continued to operate. The second study estimates rates of COVID-19 cases due to workplace outbreaks across industry groups in Ontario between April 2020 and March 2021.
Published: October 2021
Journal article
Journal article
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of nurses in British Columbia, Canada using trends analysis across three time points
Published: Annals of Epidemiology, October 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Palliative care for people who use substances during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics: a scoping review protocol
Published: BMJ Open, October 2021
Issue Briefing
Response to COVID-19: Gathering experiences of OHS authorities in developed countries
In early 2021, a group of researchers led by IWH President Dr. Cameron Mustard asked authorities responsible for occupational health and safety (OHS) in developed countries how they had, to date, addressed the COVID-19 challenge. This Issue Briefing shares what the researchers learned.
Published: August 2021