Illness/injury prevention
IWH has a long history of conducting research to provide practical guidance to employers, workers, OHS professionals and regulators about what works and what doesn’t in injury or illness prevention. This research targets the injury and illness prevention practices of workplaces, as well as the programs developed by governments, health and safety associations and others to support and motivate workplaces to adopt effective practices.
Featured
At Work article
Rates of work injuries have declined in Ontario, except the most severe
From 2004 to 2017, rates of work-related injuries requiring an emergency department visit declined in Ontario. But that overall downward trend was driven by injuries that were mild or moderate in severity. Rates of very severe injuries did not fall among men and even increased among women.
Published: July 12, 2024
Impact case study
Construction safety org adapts IWH research messages for tradesworker audience
A key program from Construction Health and Safety New Zealand—developed using IWH research—takes a participatory ergonomics approach to better prevent and manage musculoskeletal injuries among construction workers.
Published: February 28, 2024
IWH in the media
Increased OHS vulnerability linked to higher rates of self-reported injury: study
Workers who report being vulnerable because they are exposed to job hazards from which they are not adequately protected by workplace policies, awareness programs or empowerment mechanisms also report much higher rates of work-related injury.
Published: Canadian Occupational Safety, January 2017
Project
Project
Evaluating an internal responsibility system audit tool for Ontario’s mining sector
IWH researchers tested the reliability and validity of the Internal Responsibility System Climate Assessment and Audit Tool (IRS CAAT), which embodies internal responsibility best practices for Ontario’s underground mines.
Status: Completed 2017
Project
Project
Evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of Ontario’s working-at-heights training standard
IWH researchers are examining the effectiveness of Ontario’s mandatory working-at-heights training standard and what is being learned about its implementation in construction workplaces.
Status: Ongoing
Project
Project
Identifying relevant OHS leading indicators in Manitoba's construction sector
IWH is collaborating with the Construction Safety Association of Manitoba (CSAM) to identify relevant leading indicators of injury and illness in the province’s construction sector, and to encourage their use through tools that creates a conversation about best practices in the sector.
Status: Completed 2019
Project
Project
Addressing literacy and numeracy gaps among workers in an OHS training program: a pilot study
Can we improve occupational health and safety (OHS) outcomes by embedding literacy and numeracy into OHS training? IWH researchers aimed to find out, by assessing a hoisting and rigging program that embeds these essential skills into the training.
Status: Completed 2017
Project
Project
Information and resource needs of newcomers to help ensure their safe integration into the labour market
This project looked at the needs of recent immigrants and refugees to Ontario to help ensure they can safely integrate into the Canadian labour market.
Status: Completed 2017
Project
Project
Evaluating prevention strategies to reduce the risk of work-related cancers in Ontario’s construction sector
An IWH study is estimating future incidences cancers among construction workers in Ontario as a result of workplace exposures, and estimating the costs and benefits of intervention programs to reduce these exposures.
Status: Completed 2021
IWH in the media
Bill introduced to end asbestos use in the province
Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey is calling on Ontario to ban asbestos, a substance that has had a deadly impact in his community. “In my riding of Sarnia-Lambton, there are many, many families who have buried loved one because of the mesothelioma they developed from exposure to asbestos while at work,” Bailey said. Paul Morden reports in an article that cites Institute for Work & Health research on the burden of asbestos.
Published: Sarnia Observer, December 2016
Impact case study
OHS leader Carillion Canada uses IWH’s vulnerability measure to identify areas for continuous improvement
Despite a strong OHS record, construction and facilities management company sees benefit of learning more through use of IWH's OHS Vulnerability Measure.
Published: December 2016
Impact case study
Reduced soft-tissue injuries at Ontario utility attributed to work by ergonomics team set up during IWH study
Ten years after it took part in a participatory ergonomics study, Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro's change team was still going strong.
Published: December 2016