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

A group of construction workers
Impact case study

Saskatchewan’s construction safety group uses IWH tool to improve safety culture

This case study details how the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association (SCSA) members have been analyzing IWH-OPM scores to adjust their safety practices and how SCSA has been using the data to tailor their outreach.
Published: February 10, 2025
Jars of cannabis on a store display, as seen from outside
Issue Briefing

Cannabis use by workers before and after legalization in Canada

Since 2018, when non-medical use of cannabis was legalized in Canada, a pair of Institute for Work & Health (IWH) studies was conducted to explore the implications of this change for workplaces. This briefing sums up their findings.
Published: December 5, 2024
Illustration of man in suits staring at question marks
At Work article

OPM follow-up questions now available to help firms act on leading indicator scores

IWH and Ontario's health and safety associations collaborate to create follow-up questions to IWH-OPM score results.
Published: April 2016
OHS Insider logo
IWH in the media

Managing your OHS program: A case study on breakthrough changes in safety

Past research has identified the characteristics of firms that perform poorly or well with respect to work-related injury and illness prevention, but it hasn’t shown what it takes to go from one category to the other. A study by researchers at the Institute for Work & Health aimed to help fill that gap.
Published: OHS Insider, April 2016
OHS Insider logo
IWH in the media

New IWH study looks at why companies make big improvements

Why do companies make changes in their OHS programs, safety rules, safety culture, etc., especially big improvements? And what motivates companies that were low performers in health and safety to take steps to become good performers?
Published: OHS Insider, March 2016
Canadian Occupational Safety logo
IWH in the media

External influences motivate firms to improve OHS performance

When workplaces make large improvements in occupational health and safety, it seems some type of external influence helps bring internal factors into play, according to a study by the Institute for Work & Health in Toronto.
Published: Canadian Occupational Safety Newswire, March 2016
Canadian Chiropractor logo
IWH in the media

External factors influence improvements in workplace safety performance: IWH study

When workplaces make large improvements in occupational health and safety (OHS), it seems some type of external influence helps bring three internal factors into play: an organizational motivation to take action in OHS, the introduction of new OHS knowledge, and an engaged health and safety champion who integrates that knowledge into the organization.
Published: Canadian Chiropractor, March 2016
Journal article
Journal article
Project
Project

Implementation of workplace violence legislation in Ontario hospitals

IWH researchers sought to find out what helps and what hinders the successful implementation of legislated workplace violence prevention measures in Ontario’s acute-care hospitals.
Status: Completed 2017
Project
Project

Determinants of health and safety in unionized and non-unionized firms in Ontario’s construction sector

According to previous findings from IWH, unionized construction firms have fewer lost-time, critical and musculoskeletal workers’ compensation claims than non-unionized ones. Do differing workplace policies and practices in unionized firms account for this. An IWH team sought to answer the question.
Status: Completed 2017
A word cloud in the shape of a hardhat focusing on work safety
Tools and guides

OHS Vulnerability Measure

This tool assesses the extent to which a worker may be vulnerable to occupational health and safety (OHS) risks at work in four areas: hazard exposure; workplace policies and procedures; worker awareness of hazards and OHS rights and responsibilities; and worker empowerment to participate in injury and illness prevention.
Published: January 2016