IWH in the media

When it comes to asking for support on the job, either due to health or family-related reasons, a deep hesitation is present among older workers, John Dujay reports.

Educators have worked on the pandemic frontlines from day one but until now few studies have examined how evolving teaching conditions impact their health and safety.
Two recent peer-reviewed studies by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) and the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) shed light on the impacts of COVID upon educators. A lack of workplace protective measures and support for those teaching online have taken a huge toll on educators’ mental and physical health.

A recent study of injured workers in Ontario “reinforces the importance of modified duties (if necessary) and return-to-work planning,” researcher say after results showed 70% experienced persistent pain 18 months after being injured.

Seven in 10 workers who were injured on the job in Ontario still experience pain 18 months after the incident, Jim Wilson reports on findings from an IWH study.

Using fatality reports filed to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, the Toronto Star's Sara Mojtehedzadeh put together a comprehensive snapshot of COVID deaths in Ontario that are linked to workplace transmission. IWH president Dr. Peter Smith offers comments on the importance of occupational data in pandemic surveillance.

As many workplaces moved to online environments during the pandemic, training and development followed suit and many employees took courses in a virtual environment. John Dujay shares results of an Institute for Work & Health review that compares the effectiveness of online training with that of in-person training.

The number of people who die or who are being hospitalized due to opioids continues to rise, prompting the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) to launch a research project monitoring opioid-related adverse health events in order to identify the worker groups most at risk. Angela Gismondi reports.

Many organizations gauge the mental health of their workplace with the use of a psychosocial work survey. But one widely used survey, Guarding Minds at Work, may have some problems with its effectiveness, according to a joint study by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), writes John Dujay.

While the frustrations of those seeking help from British Columbia’s system for compensating injured workers have been well-documented, much less is known about the many people who are injured at work but never make a claim, writes Andrew MacLeod, reporting on an IWH study on the extent of claim suppression in B.C.

As the pandemic lingers, Canadian employers are experiencing a human-resources crunch, now commonly referred to as “The Great Resignation.” But this challenge also comes with an opportunity, writes the Honourable Yazmine Laroche, Canada’s first deputy minister of public service accessibility and the deputy minister champion for federal employees with disabilities. She mentions a new IWH-co-led study, Inclusive Design for Employment Access, as an example of of how the labour market can embrace equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.