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
At Work article
IWH eight-item questionnaire may predict future claims rates
The IWH-OPM, developed as part of the Institute’s leading indicators research, found to predict future claims rates in a sample of Ontario firms
Published: August 2014
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Preventing musculoskeletal disorders: Findings from a systematic review update
Workers in all industries are vulnerable to painful and potentially disabling injuries and disorders of the neck, shoulders, upper arms, forearms, elbows, wrists and hands—areas known as the upper extremities. The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) has conducted a systematic review on the effectiveness of workplace intervention programs to prevent and manage upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). In this plenary, the team shares the updated findings and the key messages from the latest research available.
Published: June 2014
Impact case study
WorkSafeNB adopts IWH’s tool to benchmark health and safety
Institute expertise tapped to evaluate agency's safety perception tool--and to provide a better alternative.
Published: June 2014
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
A model of "breakthrough change" in workplace health and safety performance
What do workplaces that manage to turn around their poor health and safety records have in common? In an innovative, case-study-based study called "Breakthrough Change," Dr. Lynda Robson examined the experiences of four Ontario workplaces that dramatically brought down their injury claim rates over a 10-year period. In this plenary, she shares the common themes that have emerged from her study—some of them unexpected.
Published: May 2014
At Work article
OHS champion has pivotal role in breakthrough change: study
IWH study of health and safety success stories shines light on the potential of individual change agent to create momentum for safer practices
Published: May 2014
Impact case study
WCB adapts toolkit for newcomers to Manitoba context
The toolkit, called Prevention is the Best Medicine, hopes to bridge the knowledge gap among newcomers of OHS and workers' compensation issues.
Published: April 2014
Impact case study
MOL broadens strategy for identifying poor OHS performers
IWH evaluation of high risk firm program confirms need for a redesign.
Published: April 2014
At Work article
At Work article
Non-academic OHS sources enrich systematic reviews
IWH review team also finds workload a challenge when including grey literature in systematic reviews
Published: February 2014
Tools and guides
Breakthrough Change in OHS: Case study series
Each of four case studies tells the story of an Ontario organization that achieved firm-level, sustained improvement in health and safety performance. Each illustrates the factors critical to making large improvement in health and safety, based upon an evidence-based model of breakthrough change developed through Institute for Work & Health research.
Published: January 2014
Project
Project
Synthesizing and tailoring OHS knowledge for use in specific provincial and local contexts
In partnership with Memorial University’s SafetyNet Centre for Occupational safety & Health Research and the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba, IWH developed and tested an innovative methodology for synthesizing current scientific workplace health, safety and disability prevention knowledge and tailoring it for use in specific provincial and local contexts.
Status: Completed 2017