Workplace wellness and health promotion
The majority of working-aged people spend most of their waking hours at work. IWH research examines the impact of the work environment on worker health and wellbeing, as well as the effectiveness of workplace health and wellness promotion initiatives on workers’ physical activity and other health behaviours.
Featured
IWH Speaker Series
Engaging employees in wellness: Insights from workplace champions
Published: October 21, 2025
IWH Speaker Series
How the physical and social environment shape commuters' choices to bike or walk
Published: October 15, 2024
IWH in the media
If you stand for too long at work, you could double your risk of this disease
Odds are, you already know about the scary things that sitting can do to your health. But we have some bad news: Your standing desk may be doing more harm than good, too, writes Brooke Nelson.
Published: Reader's Digest, September 2017
IWH in the media
Standing too much at work can double your risk of heart disease
People who primarily stand on the job are twice as likely to develop heart disease as people who primarily sit. This was the case even after taking into account a wide range of factors, including personal factors, health and the type of work being performed, writes Dr. Peter Smith in The Conversation.
Published: The Conversation, September 2017
IWH in the media
Standing all day is twice as bad as sitting for your heart
On the circle of health hype, what was bad becomes good, then it becomes overrated, then it becomes bad again. That’s what happened to barefoot running and multivitamins, and it’s where the purported dangers of “too much sitting” seem to be headed. But the truth is probably somewhere in the middle rather than on the peaks or in the valleys. With that in mind, it’s worth looking at an interesting study just published in the American Journal of Epidemiology that finds jobs that require a lot of standing to be much worse for your health than jobs that require mostly sitting, writes Alex Hutchinson.
Published: Runner's World, August 2017
IWH in the media
Too much standing is bad, study finds — it's time to move
People who stand for long periods at work may have another reason to join their seated colleagues in moving more. "There's a good body of research evidence that shows standing a lot is actually bad for your health," said Peter Smith, a senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health.
Published: CBC, August 2017
Project
Project
Extended working life and its interaction with health, wellbeing and quality of life: a multi-country initiative (THRIVE)
Canada was one of four countries taking part in a multi-national study exploring policy approaches to extending the working lives of older people in a manner that is both effective and fair for all workers. IWH led the Canadian portion.
Status: Completed 2019
Research Highlights
Risk of heat- or cold-related illnesses across a broad population of Ontario workers
It's long been known that extreme temperatures can pose health hazards, from heat stress disorders to hypothermia and frost-bite. An IWH study found that a strong relationship exists between outdoor temperature and illness among the working population. And, as this study shows, it's not just in extreme temperatures that workers are at risk.
Published: March 2015
Project