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

IWH Speaker Series
New business owners on why and how OHS starts to matter
Published: October 27, 2026
Research Highlights
Rises in opioid harms highest in machining, construction, sales
A new study has found that opioid harm rates have increased among injured workers over the last two decades. The study also breaks the trends down by occupation.
Published: October 14, 2026
Journal article
Journal article
Heat exposure and health outcomes in construction workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published: Environmental Health Insights, March 2026
Journal article
Journal article
Self-reported cannabis use and intoxication at work: prevalence across industries and occupations and association with workplace injuries in the United States (US)
Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, March 2026
Journal article
Journal article
Comparing profiles of mental illness and positive mental health between injured workers and the general working population in Ontario
Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, February 2026
Journal article
Journal article
Early occupational health and safety interventions for small businesses: an environmental scan
Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, January 2026
Journal article
Journal article
The combined effect of psychosocial safety climate and OHS vulnerabilities on workplace injury risks
Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine , January 2026
Project
Project
Construction union effect
Two studies have previously examined the union effect on workplace injuries in the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sector of construction, using only data from Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). This study both repeats and extends these studies earlier methods, by using additional sources of data.
Status: Ongoing
At Work article
Differences in firm-level AI use for health and safety
To what extent are Canadian workplaces using artificial intelligence (AI) to help support workers’ health and safety? And what do these workplaces have in common? An IWH study found that about a quarter of firms surveyed across Ontario and British Columbia were using AI for occupational health and safety (OHS). Those that were more likely to use the technology for OHS were larger organizations and those where workers were more frequently exposed to hazards.
Published: October 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Landscape of artificial intelligence use for occupational health and safety practice in two Canadian provinces
Published: American Journal of Industrial Medicine, September 2025
Journal article
Journal article
Do occupational health and safety tools that utilize artificial intelligence have a measurable impact on worker injury or illness? Findings from a systematic review
Published: Systematic Reviews, July 2025
IWH in the media
Why heat makes our jobs more dangerous
A Toronto Star investigation has found that critical workplace injuries spike on the hottest days of the year. The provincial government knows that heat is a growing and potentially lethal threat to workers, but new protections it once proposed have never materialized, writes climate change reporter Kate Allen, with data analysis provided by IWH's Dr. Peter Smith.
Published: The Toronto Star, June 2025