Dr. Peter Smith
Dr. Peter Smith is president and senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) in Toronto, and a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Prior to moving into the president's role in January 2022, Smith was IWH's scientific co-director.
Smith has a master's in public health from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and a PhD from the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto. He is a former recipient of a New Investigator Award (2008-2013) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council (2012-2014), and a five-year CIHR Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health (2014-2018).
Smith has extensive experience conducting research related to work injury and its consequences using large population-based surveys and administrative workers' compensation data. His key research interests include: gender and sex differences in the relationship between work and health; labour market inequalities and their health-related outcomes; labour market experiences of newcomers, older workers, younger workers and other vulnerable labour force subgroups; chronic illnesses and work injury; and trends in working conditions over time.
“I don’t understand how people can think about health without thinking about work. Between our early 20s and our 60s – and later for some people – we spend most of our waking hours at work. It makes sense, then, that aspects of work must have an impact on different aspects of our health, both positively and negatively. That drives me to better understand what good work and bad work look like from a health and return-to-work perspective.” – Dr. Peter Smith
Projects
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Cannabis use and long-term recovery and return-to-work outcomes among Ontario injured workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Understanding the long-term recovery and labour market outcomes of injured workers in Ontario. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario. Ongoing.
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Understanding the long-term recovery and labour market outcomes of injured workers in the shadow of COVID-19. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing.
- Project ECHO Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM): Implementation and evaluation. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing.
- Toking 9 to 5: Workplace cannabis use and perceptions among Canadian workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Cote P, Kristman VL, Vidmar M, Van Eerd D, Hogg-Johnson S, Beaton DE, Smith PM. Prevalence and incidence of work absenteeism involving neck pain: a cohort of Ontario lost-time claimants. Spine. 2008;33(4):S192-S198. doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181644616.
- Smith PM, Polanyi M. Understanding the health of work. Institute for Work & Health; 2008.
- Smith PM, Frank JW, Mustard C. Monitoring and surveillance of the psychosocial work environment in Canada: a forgotten determinant of health. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 2008;99(6):475-482.
- Smith PM, Frank JW, Bondy SJ, Mustard C. Do changes in job control predict differences in health status? Results from a longitudinal national survey of Canadians. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2008;70(1):85-91. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e31815c4103.
- Smith PM, Frank JW, Mustard C, Bondy SJ. Examining the relationships between job control and health status: a path analysis approach. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2008;62(1):54-61. doi:10.1136/jech.2006.057539.
Speaker Series presentations
- Refining estimates of occupational exposures and risk of workplace COVID-19 transmission. IWH Speaker Series. January 16, 2024.
- Building on the past, looking to the future: Presenting the IWH Strategic Plan, 2023-27. IWH Speaker Series. May 23, 2023.
- Workplace COVID-19 protections and transmission: Findings from population-level data in Canada. IWH Speaker Series. October 19, 2021.
- Differences in the return-to-work process for work-related psychological and musculoskeletal conditions: findings from an Australian cohort. IWH Speaker Series. April 6, 2021.
- More than just COVID-19 prevention: Exploring the links between PPE, safe work protocols and workers' mental health. IWH Speaker Series. November 10, 2020.
Interviews and articles
- Too many injured workers not seeking mental health supports. Canadian HR Reporter. July 20, 2020. Available from: https://www.hrreporter.com/focus-areas/compensation-and-benefits/too-many-injured-workers-not-seeking-mental-health-supports/330907
- Lack of PPE related to healthcare workers’ anxiety, depression: report. Canadian Occupational Safety. June 4, 2020. Available from: https://www.thesafetymag.com/ca/topics/psychological-safety/lack-of-ppe-related-to-healthcare-workers-anxiety-depression-report/224230
- Anxiety levels among health-care workers during COVID-19 linked to inadequate PPE . At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 100, Spring 2020.
- Understanding challenges in hospitals' workplace violence reporting systems. Contact. April 3, 2020. Available from: https://www.csse.org/document/6319/Contact-Spring-2020.pdf
- Poorer post-injury experiences lead to worse RTW outcomes for psychological claimants . At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 99, Winter 2020.