Past events
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IWH Speaker Series
The burden of occupational cancer
Paul Demers, Occupational Cancer Research Centre
In October 2017, the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) and Cancer Care Ontario released a report on the impact of workplace carcinogens in Ontario. The report, Burden of Occupational Cancer in Ontario: Major Workplace Carcinogens and Prevention of Exposure, focused on carcinogens that are well-established causes of cancer—for example, solar ultraviolet radiation, asbestos, diesel engine exhaust and crystalline silica—as well as commonly known or suspected carcinogens found in Ontario workplaces. In this presentation, the first in the newly named IWH Speaker Series, Dr. Paul Demers shares the report's key findings. He also discusses policy recommendations aimed at the government, Ontario’s occupational health and safety system, employers and non-governmental organizations.
IWH Speaker Series
Availability of caregiver-friendly workplace policies: an international scoping review
Allison Williams, McMaster University
Where are caregiver-friendly workplaces commonly found? What sectors are they in and what characteristics do their policies share? In this plenary, Dr. Allison Williams shares findings from her scoping review on the availability of workplace policies to support employees who have additional off-work responsibilities of caring for loved ones.
IWH Speaker Series
Addressing essential skills gaps in an OHS training program: a pilot study
Ron Saunders, Institute for Work & Health; Siobhan Cardoso, Institute for Work & Health; Morgane Le Pouésard, Institute for Work & Health
Can an occupational health and safety (OHS) training program be improved by modifying it to address gaps in essential skills? In a recent study, a research team led by Dr. Ron Saunders modified a hoisting and rigging training program offered by the LIUNA Local 506 training centre. The changes were made to address trainees’ skills gaps in numeracy and document use that were related to the job. In this plenary, the team share findings regarding the effect of modifying the curriculum on trainee learning and discuss suggestions for improving training efforts within the construction sector.
IWH Speaker Series
Hand-arm vibration syndrome: a common but under-recognized problem
Ron House, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital
Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) is a common occupational disease, which in advanced cases may be associated with significant upper extremity disability and reduced quality of life. However, HAVS is under-recognized and under-reported in Ontario and other Canadian provinces. Moreover, there is currently no legislation in Ontario for hand-arm vibration exposure. In this plenary, Dr. Ron House shares his HAVS research at St. Michael's Hospital and the Centre for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease (CREOD). He describes HAVS and its components, outlines its clinical assessment and management, and reviews the legislation for hand-arm vibration exposure and compensation experience for HAVS in Canada. He also highlights recent efforts to raise awareness of HAVS and increase focus on preventing this occupational exposure.
IWH Speaker Series
Do workplace facilities and health promotion programs help workers be physically active?
Aviroop Biswas, Institute for Work & Health
Despite the known health benefits of regular physical activity, over half of adults fail to meet physical activity recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. Recognizing that working-aged adults typically spend a third of their day at work, many workplaces offer wellness programs and facilities that support physical activity near or at work. In this plenary, Dr. Avi Biswas shares the results of a study that drew from a national survey of Canadians to examine the relationship between access to such facilities and wellness programs and the leisure time physical activity of workers.
IWH Speaker Series
Safe employment integration of recent immigrants and refugees
Agnieszka Kosny, Institute for Work & Health; Basak Yanar, Institute for Work & Health; Dina Al-Khooly, Institute for Work & Health
Settlement and integration involve helping recent immigrants and refugees find work and become economically solvent. Many newcomers end up in survival jobs that expose them to hazards and are precarious and physically demanding. In this plenary, presenters Dr. Agnieszka Kosny, Dr. Basak Yanar and Dina Al-khooly summarize a recent study investigating how newcomers come to understand their rights and where there are gaps in resources and training.
IWH Speaker Series
The role of Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) ergonomists
Brian McInnes, Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL)
During Global Ergonomics Month, get the inside scoop on what Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) ergonomists do. Brian McInnes, provincial ergonomist at MOL, walks the audience through a day in the life of MOL ergonomists. He discusses the types of ergonomics analyses they perform, the different components of their ergonomics-related field visits, and the options they have for enforcement. A few case studies are shared.
IWH Speaker Series
Evaluation of a safe resident handling program in U.S. nursing homes
Alicia Kurowski, University of Massachusetts Lowell
How effective are safe resident handling programs? In a 10-year research project, a team at the Center for Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW) set out to measure the impact of one such program that was implemented across 200 nursing home centres. In this plenary, project manager Alicia Kurowski shares the team’s findings on outcomes such as ergonomic exposures, self-reported back pain, injury rates, return-to-work outcomes and return on investment.
IWH Speaker Series
Designing disability income support policy for mental illness
Ashley McAllister, Karolinska Institute
The features of mental illnesses pose challenges when designing disability income support (DIS) programs, yet there is limited evidence about the process. In this plenary, Dr. Ashley McAllister shares the results of a study in Australia and Ontario, which interviewed policy designers of DIS programs about the challenges related to mental illnesses. She outlines five main challenges and considers the ramifications of ignoring them—including distrust among policy designers of physicians' evidence to support DIS applications.
IWH Speaker Series
Understanding effective worker health and safety representation
The right of worker representation has been a central tenet of occupational health and safety for over 40 years. While evidence shows that it improves health and safety at work, few attempts have been made to show how. In this plenary, a team of academics and labour representatives known as LOARC (short for Labour/OHCOW/Academic Research Collaboration) share their work examining what worker representatives actually do to achieve change. How much does it matter whether worker representatives adopt a more legal/technical approach or a more knowledge activist approach? Findings on effective worker health and safety representation styles are discussed.
IWH Speaker Series
The biopsychosocial model: Time for a new back pain revolution?
Maurits Van Tulder, VU University Amsterdam
The management of low-back pain has changed from a passive approach calling for bed rest, traction and massage to a more active approach, one focused on staying active, exercise and multidisclipnary rehabilitation. This is in line with the change from a biomedical to a biopsychosocial model for understanding low-back pain over the last 20 years. However, the burden of low-back pain is still high, and the evidence for the biopsychosocial approach is still small. In this plenary, Dr. Maurits Van Tulder discusses the need for a new revolution in low-back pain research and the obligation researchers have to contribute to improving clinical practice.
IWH Speaker Series
New World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on rehabilitation in health systems
Andrea Furlan, Institute for Work & Health
In February of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report titled Rehabilitation in health systems, which includes nine recommendations to improve rehabilitation services around the world. The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) played a key role in the development of these recommendations, being one of three research organizations contracted by WHO to canvas the evidence on the best ways to strengthen and expand the availability of quality rehabilitation services. While the report primarily targets low- and middle-income countries, as noted by Dr. Andrea Furlan, lead researcher of the IWH evidence-gathering team contracted by WHO, “the recommendations resonate in Canada as well, given that rehabilitation plays an important role in keeping people in an aging population independent for longer, and helping people with chronic and acute injuries participate in school and work.” At this plenary, Dr. Furlan and Emma Irvin (also on the IWH research team) discuss the WHO’s recommendations for improving rehabilitation services globally, as well as the evidence behind them.
IWH Speaker Series
Evaluating the impact of mandatory awareness training in Ontario
Peter Smith, Institute for Work & Health
In this presentation, Dr. Peter Smith shares the results of a study that examined differences in the level of self-reported occupational health and safety (OHS) awareness and empowerment among employed workers in Ontario before and after the introduction of the mandatory OHS training. He also discusses the implications of the results for future province-wide initiatives focusing on the primary prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses.
IWH Speaker Series
Doctors and workers’ compensation: how system design shapes doctors’ roles
Katherine Lippel, University of Ottawa
How are the roles of doctors in the workers’ compensation system different in Quebec and Ontario? In this plenary, Professor Katherine Lippel shares findings from a qualitative and comparative regulatory study, conducted in both provinces, to examine the impact of regulatory contexts on the roles and practices of doctors and other players in the system.
IWH Speaker Series
Have we learned enough for workplace Parkinson's disease prevention?
Anne Harris, Syme Fellow, Institute for Work & Health; Ryerson University
We currently don't fully understand why some people develop Parkinson's disease as they age while others do not. Since genetic inheritance accounts for a very small proportion of cases, researchers have been interested in environmental causes, including workplace exposures. In this plenary, epidemiologist Dr. Anne Harris talks about the evidence for or against several candidate risk factors, including pesticides, head injury, and whole body vibration.
IWH Speaker Series
Health-care providers and their role in return to work
Agnieszka Kosny, Institute for Work & Health
Research around the world has shown that health-care providers have a key role in the return-to-work (RTW) process. However, pressure on consultation time, administrative challenges and limited knowledge about a patient’s workplace can thwart meaningful engagement. In a two-year study conducted in four Canadian provinces, Dr. Agnieszka Kosny focused on the experiences of health-care providers within the workers’ compensation system and their role in the RTW process. She shares her findings in this plenary.
IWH Speaker Series
Life course concepts in the work experiences of people with arthritis
Arif Jetha, Institute for Work & Health
Arthritis is one of the most common causes of work disability in Canada. Among those with arthritis, three in five are in their working years (ages 18 to 65 years). Yet, little research has looked into the work experiences of young and middle-aged adults with arthritis. In this plenary, Dr. Arif Jetha shares his research examining the impact of important life transitions on the work experiences of young, middle-aged and older adults with arthritis.
IWH Speaker Series
Return to work not a single event: applying new methods and data to understand RTW
Christopher McLeod, Institute for Work & Health
Returning to work after a work injury can be a complex process involving multiple episodes of time-loss. In this plenary, Dr. Christopher McLeod looks at newly available detailed calendar data on RTW among injured workers with accepted time-loss claims in British Columbia. He outlines how this data can be used to identify distinct clusters of RTW trajectories and highlights key demographic, clinical and work characteristics that may be associated with shorter and/or longer and more complex trajectories. He also explores the relevance of these data and methods in identifying effective interventions that can improve RTW outcomes.
IWH Speaker Series
Managing safety and operations: The effect of joint management system practices on safety and operational outcomes
Lynda Robson, Institute for Work & Health
Can best practices in manufacturing and occupational safety be complementary or even synergistic? Or is there necessarily a trade-off between the two? What practices are important for achieving high performance in both manufacturing operations and safety? Dr. Lynda Robson presents results from an inter-disciplinary mixed-method research project. She highlights the “joint management system practices” associated with positive effects on both operational outcomes (e.g. product quality) and safety outcomes.
IWH Speaker Series
What are physicians told about their role in return to work?
Agnieszka Kosny, Institute for Work & Health
Physicians have an important role in the return to work (RTW) process, but research shows that they sometimes struggle to manage RTW consultations and help patients return to work after an injury. As part of a broader exploration into the role played by doctors in RTW, an IWH team led by Dr. Agnieszka Kosny sought to examine resources, policies and guidelines that have been developed for physicians by workers’ compensation boards, governments and other organizations across Canada. In this plenary, Kosny highlights resource gaps that may hinder physicians’ understanding of their roles and responsibilities in the workers' compensation system and RTW process, and which may ultimately delay workers’ RTW after injury.