Past events

8 May 2018

Conference

Work, Migration and Health Forum 2018

The Work, Migration and Health Forum 2018, sponsored in part by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), examines the labour experiences of temporary foreign workers, new immigrants, refugees, working international students and undocumented migrants, and explores opportunities for effective interventions. IWH's Dr. Basak Yanar is delivering a keynote on newcomers’ experiences looking for work and finding information about health and safety. 

1 May 2018

IWH Speaker Series

Who claims for injury: comparing self-reported injury data and accident compensation claims

Michelle Poland, University of Otago, New Zealand

How well does compensation claims data capture actual injury trends? Research in several different jurisdictions has suggested that workers' compensation claims data represents only a fraction of actual injuries at work. A recent study examined whether a similar pattern of under-reporting exists in New Zealand, where the universal, no-fault accident compensation environment should theoretically remove common barriers to filing claims. In this IWH Speaker Series presentation, lead researcher Michelle Poland shares results of her findings and their broader implications.

1 May 2018

Conference

Partners in Prevention 2018

The Institute for Work & Health will once again be at Ontario's largest health and safety conference, as both presenter and exhibitor. Come hear one of our scientists presenting research on the latest evidence on prolonged standing and sitting, and a research associate introducing our new guide on supporting employees with depression in the workplace. And drop by Booth #525 to get practical research findings that can help improve your OHS program.

27 Mar 2018

IWH Speaker Series

Towards a better understanding of differences in the risk of workplace violence for men and women in Canada

Peter Smith, Institute for Work & Health

Workplace violence is getting increasing attention, especially within certain industries such as health care and education. This presentation will discuss results from two recently completed studies examining differences in the risk of workplace violence for men and women.

20 Mar 2018

IWH Speaker Series

Flame retardants in e-waste recycling: an emerging occupational hazard

Victoria Arrandale, Occupational Cancer Research Centre

With the growth of electronic waste recycling in Ontario and other parts of Canada, concerns about several occupational hazards are coming to the fore. In this presentation, Dr. Victoria Arrandale summarizes results from the first study of flame retardant chemicals in the Canadian e-waste industry, as well as the effects of other hazards in the e-waste environment.

30 Jan 2018

IWH Speaker Series

Systematic review of workplace interventions to manage depression

Emma Irvin, Institute for Work & Health; Kim Cullen, Institute for Work & Health; Dwayne Van Eerd, Institute for Work & Health

By the year 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. What effective intervention approaches for managing depression can workplaces offer to help employees either stay at work while experiencing symptoms, or return to work after a depression-related absence? In this presentation, an Institute for Work & Health team share findings from a recent systematic review of the scientific literature on this question.

16 Jan 2018

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.

12 Dec 2017

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.

28 Nov 2017

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.

21 Nov 2017

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.

7 Nov 2017

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.

1 Nov 2017

Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture

High-hazard industries: Addressing safety culture, climate and leadership to improve outcomes

Linda Goldenhar, CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training

In this lecture Dr. Goldenhar talks about the research that led her team to develop, first, a workbook to help strengthen jobsite safety climate by improving performance in eight areas identified as leading indicators of health and safety outcomes and, more recently an online tool that assesses a workplace’s safety climate maturity. Dr. Goldenhar also shares preliminary evaluation findings of a program that she and her team developed to improve jobsite supervisory leadership—one of the eight safety climate leading indicators identified as critical by construction stakeholders.

31 Oct 2017

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.

17 Oct 2017

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.

13 Oct 2017

Conference

Lancaster House Workplace Safety and Insurance Conference

This one-day conference features a keynote address by IWH Scientist Dr. Agnieszka Kosny, who's also a member of the conference advisory committee. Her address is entitled, "The role of health-care providers in the workers' compensation system and the return-to-work process."

12 Oct 2017

Conference

Lancaster House Health and Safety Conference

Panel and workshop topics include: major caselaw and legislative update, workplace strategies for preventing post-traumatic stress disorder, lessons from a seasoned accident investigator, dealing with domestic violence in the workplace, ending sexual harassment as required by Bill 132, effective anti-harassment programs and investigations, and winning cases at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal.

13 Jun 2017

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.

30 May 2017

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.

16 May 2017

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.

2 May 2017

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.