Participatory approach to health and safety in long-term care
Long-term care homes are high-risk environments, and strategies to reduce workplace injuries are essential to protecting long-term care workers and the quality of care provided to residents. This video whiteboard explains why and how a participatory approach to injury prevention can help prevent injuries by involving front-line staff in the identification and control of workplace hazards.
Posted October 2019
Supervisor's response to work injury matters
Supervisors are busy. They’re always juggling multiple demands for their time and attention. But that moment when they learn a worker is injured, do they react with concern and empathy or blame and skepticism? As this research-based video from Institute for Work & Health (IWH) sums up, a supervisor’s response can make a difference to whether an injured worker returns to work successfully within a few months. It’s one of the ways supervisors matter.
Posted September 2019
Sitting or standing? Which is best?
If you’re confused by seemingly duelling headlines about the negative health effects of prolonged sitting and prolonged standing, this video may help clear things up. Two of the scientists behind these headlines work at the Institute for Work & Health, so we put them before the camera, side by side, to sort out the take-away message.
Posted November 2018
Trouvez les travailleurs à protéger
La vulnérabilité en santé et en sécurité au travail ne dépend pas de qui vous êtes. Elle dépend des fonctions que vous accomplissez. Nos recherches montrent qu’il existe une meilleure façon de repérer les travailleurs vulnérables.
Posted August 2017
Find the workers you need to protect
How do you tell which workers are vulnerable to injury? Occupational health and safety (OHS) vulnerability is not about who people are. It's about the work they do. Use the OHS Vulnerability Measure to identify workers you need to protect.
Posted August 2017
Creating effective return-to-work programs for workers with MSDs
What workplace-based interventions are effective in helping workers with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) recover and return to work after a period of work absence? This is the question that a team of researchers from the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto, Canada, and the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research (ISCRR) in Melbourne, Australia, set out to answer through a systematic review of high quality research on the topic.
Posted May 2017
Celebrating 20 years of the DASH Outcome Measure
In 1996, when the DASH was developed by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, no measure had previously existed to assess the disability and function of the arm, shoulder and hand as a whole. Today, this outcome measure is used across the world, and is available in 55 languages and dialects. Developers of the DASH talk about why they think the tool has stood the test of time.
Posted January 2017
Preventing upper extremity injuries at work
Strong evidence suggests that workplace-based resistance training can help prevent and manage musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of the upper extremity, which includes the neck, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist and hand. That’s one of the key findings coming out of a systematic review conducted by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH).
Posted October 2016
The effect of COR certification on injury rates
We looked at the injury rates of firms that received COR Certification for occupational health and safety.
Posted June 2016
Understanding injury risk and recovery among shift workers
Research evidence has been accumulating on the adverse health consequences of night, evening and rotating shift work. New research is now suggesting that, not only are shift workers at greater risk of work injury, they are more likely to have a harder time recovering should an injury occur. What's more, injury rates don't improve when shift workers switch into regular 9-to-5 work schedules, as Mustard Post-doctoral fellow Dr. Imelda Wong explains.
Posted November 2015
Supporting workers with arthritis through job accommodations
A study about workplace supports for people with arthritis suggests that many affected workers don’t feel they need frequent help. The study, conducted by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), also finds that people who can access the workplace supports often report better outcomes at work. That can mean less job disruption, greater ability to concentrate on tasks and fewer changes to work hours.
Posted September 2015
Divergent trends in work-related and non-work-related injury rates in Ontario
Work-related injury rates in Ontario fell by 30 per cent from 2004 to 2011. In contrast, rates of injuries outside of work did not change. According to a study by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), if injuries due to leisure, recreation or other non-work activities had fallen at the same rate as work-related injuries, the province would have seen 200,000 fewer injuries in 2011.
Posted February 2015
Exploring the role of gender in work-related injury, chronic illness and recovery
Institute Scientist Dr. Peter Smith talks about his five-year research program into how sex and gender shape risk of work injury, time off work after a work injury, and the relationship between the work environment and chronic illnesses.
Posted September 2014
Health and safety issues for low-wage temp agency workers
The complex employment relationship between temporary agency workers, temp agencies and client employers creates loopholes and incentives that may leave low-wage temp agency workers more vulnerable to workplace injuries, says research from the Institute for Work & Health.
Posted July 2014
Nachemson 2013: Unique research-policy partnership
Dr. Mieke Koehoorn, co-lead of the Partnership for Work, Health & Safety at the University of British Columbia and recipient of the 2013 Alf Nachemson Memorial Lectureship, talks about the unique research-policy partnership between the University of British Columbia and WorkSafeBC.
Posted November 2013
Nachemson 2013: Impact of research on policy
Dr. Mieke Koehoorn, co-lead of the Partnership for Work, Health & Safety at the University of British Columbia and recipient of the 2013 Alf Nachemson Memorial Lectureship, gives examples of the way in which research has had an impact on policy in British Columbia.
Posted November 2013
Nachemson 2013: Challenges in the research-policy relationship
Dr. Mieke Koehoorn, co-lead of the Partnership for Work, Health & Safety at the University of British Columbia and recipient of the 2013 Alf Nachemson Memorial Lectureship, talks about the challenges facing researchers in developing strong working relationships with policy-makers.
Posted November 2013
Different but equal: Workforce participation of people with episodic disabilities
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Tammy C. Yates, Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR)
Movement analysis of firefighters using gaming and simulation technology
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Tara Kajaks, McMaster University
Building front-line capacity to prevent occupational disease in Ontario
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Linn Holness, Centre for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease
Ontario Office of the Worker Adviser: Services and partnerships in support of vulnerable workers
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Alec Farquhar, Office of the Worker Adviser
Income security and labour-market engagement: Envisioning the future of work disability policy in Canada
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Emile Tompa, Institute for Work & Health; Ellen MacEachen, Institute for Work & Health
How to make occupational health and safety training more effective: Findings from a field trial
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Ben Amick, Institute for Work & Health
An introduction to developmental evaluation: Why evaluation matters in rethinking "accountability to learning"
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Sanjeev Sridharan, St. Michael's Hospital
Law Commission of Ontario’s Vulnerable Workers Project: Why? How? What’s next?
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Patricia Hughes, Law Commission of Ontario
Research informing policy: How to make an impact
Presented on at Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture presentation.
Presenters: Mieke Koehoorn, University of British Columbia
Preventing needlestick injuries in Ontario’s acute care hospitals: Progress and ongoing challenges
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Andrea Chambers, Institute for Work & Health
Geographic variation in work injuries: An analysis of individual and area-level factors within Canada
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Curtis Breslin, Institute for Work & Health; Sara Morassaei, Institute for Work & Health
Bridging the gap between the economic evaluation literature and daily practice in OHS
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Hanneke van Dongen, VU University Amsterdam
Contrasting participatory ergonomics programs with requirements for occupational health and safety management systems
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Richard Wells, Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD)
Health and safety issues in the aging workforce
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Harry Shannon, McMaster University
Health-care workers and antineoplastic drugs: Evaluating the risks and identifying determinants of exposure
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Chun Yip Hon, Ryerson University
Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study: Recruitment and participant characteristics
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Sarah Derrett, University of Otago, New Zealand
Monitoring health inequities by socio-economic status: Lessons from Scotland
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: John Frank, Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, University of Edinburgh
Fairness in accommodating work injury and disability: What is perceived as fair and why do these perceptions matter?
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Gail Hepburn, University of Lethbridge
Work disability trajectories under three workers' compensation programs
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Emile Tompa, Institute for Work & Health
Serving the food nation: Assessing body mass index and self-perceived weight in the food service worker population
Presented on at IWH Speaker Series presentation.
Presenters: Julia Woodhall , University of Waterloo