Plain-language summaries

Institute for Work & Health (IWH) plain-language summaries condense research findings in various formats. At Work articles explain study results with comments from the study leads. Research Highlights summarize journal articles in easy-to-read, digest formats. Sharing Best Evidence summaries highlight findings from systematic reviews and other types of reviews conducted or led by IWH researchers. Issue Briefings discuss key research findings from IWH or elsewhere on topics that are of particular interest to policy-makers.

At Work article

Co-workers play an important, but sometimes “invisible” role in RTW

If you’re trying to bring an injured worker back to work, you may want to talk to his or her co-workers. A new study suggests they may have some important insights about how best to help the injured worker get back to, and stay on, the job.
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At Work article

At issue: Comparing the costs of workers’ compensation in California and Canada

A new Issue Briefing examines workers’ compensation costs in Canada and in the state of California. The briefing shows that the administrative costs of the workers' compensation system in California are much higher than in Canada.
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At Work article

Shift work and health: What is the research telling us?

The Institute for Work & Health has scanned the research and called on experts to get the latest word on what we know – and don’t know – about the effects of shift work on employee health. There are certainly areas for concern, so more research on ways to protect shift workers is the logical next step.
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At Work article

Research noted at Legislative Assembly of Ontario

A study that has been examining potential explanations for the increase in long-duration claims was noted in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
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At Work article

Leading work-health researchers to attend Toronto conference

This year’s Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health (CARWH) conference is gearing up to be an exciting event with an impressive range of speakers from the work and health research arena from across Canada.
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At Work article

Picture this: Using visual symbols to identify MSD hazards

Institute for Work & Health (IWH) researchers are playing a role in developing novel pictograms that convey both musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) hazards and controls.
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Los Angeles skyline cast in the orange glow of a sunset
Issue Briefing

Workers' compensation in California and Canada

This Issue Briefing provides a case study that compares the costs of the workers’ compensation scheme in the state of California with the cost of provincial workers’ compensation schemes in Canada. In California's system, compensation benefits are mainly provided through private insurers, while in Canada they are provided mostly through a single public agency in each province.
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At Work article

Exploring complex issues to find return-to-work answers

Recent studies from the Institute for Work & Health highlight potentially important practices for ensuring the successful return to work of injured employees.
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At Work article

OHS education and training promotes positive worker practices

A systematic review from the Institute for Work & Health confirms that education and training lead to safer practices among workers. However, on their own, they might not reduce work-related injuries and illnesses. That makes education and training only one part, albeit an important part, of an effective occupational health and safety program.
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At Work article

The big picture: Solving the “problem” of OHS in small business

Solutions to the “problem” of health and safety in small business are slow in coming. At the 2009 Alf Nachemson Memorial Lecture, Dr. Joan Eakin drew upon her years of research to help explain why.
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At Work article

Easy-to-use tool measures benefits and costs of OHS initiatives

The Institute for Work & Health introduces the Health & Safety Smart Planner – a new, user-friendly tool that is designed to help workplaces understand the full benefits and costs of occupational health and safety programs and interventions.
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View of training room from the back
Sharing Best Evidence

Effectiveness of OHS education and training

Occupational health and safety (OHS) training is an important part of managing workplace hazards and risks, but do they result in fewer work-related injuries and illnesses? This systematic review set out to determine whether OHS training and education programs have a beneficial effect for workers and workplaces.
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Close-up of a neon "open" sign
Research Highlights

Improving health and safety in small businesses

Health and safety interventions in small businesses can improve safety-related attitudes, behaviour and health. Evidence supports two intervention types: a combination of training and safety audits; and a combination of engineering controls, training, safety audits and rewards.
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A listless man stares out the window
Research Highlights

What is the association between occupation and suicide risk among working Canadians?

With a few exceptions, the characteristics of specific occupations do not influence the risk for suicide in Canada. For men, nine occupational groups have an elevated risk for suicide; for women, four occupational groups have an elevated risk.
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An anxious-looking woman rests her head in her hand
Research Highlights

Why some injured workers don’t return to work as expected

For long-term and costly workers’ compensation claims, researchers identified four contexts in the return-to-work process that contributed to problems. The risk of a “toxic dose” resulted when problems occurred across the different contexts.
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A close-up view of a pair of hands using an ergonomic keyboard
Research Highlights

Are ergonomic interventions cost-effective?

There is strong evidence that ergonomic interventions result in positive financial returns for firms in the manufacturing and warehousing sector and moderate evidence for the administrative and support services and health-care sectors.
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A brewery worker inspects equipment
Research Highlights

How do small businesses implement health and safety processes?

One size does not fit all. When it comes to occupational health and safety interventions, small businesses have needs that completely distinct from those of larger organizations.
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A man at the computer keyboard massages his wrist
Research Highlights

Which workplace interventions are most effective in preventing upper extremity MSDs?

Ergonomics training, exercise programs, alternative pointing devices and keyboards and so on. A broad range of workplace interventions are available to reduce musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the arm, hand, shoulder and neck. Which ones are effective?
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View from the back of three older men sitting on a bench
Research Highlights

Study finds three groups of workers with low-back pain

Workers disabled by low-back pain can be grouped into three different groups: (1) those with workplace factors, (2) those with no workplace factors, but greater back pain, and (3) those with multiple factors.
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A health-care worker helps a client to her feet
Research Highlights

Reducing musculoskeletal symptoms in health-care workers

Multi-component patient handling interventions can improve musculoskeletal health among health-care workers, including: a policy change at the worksite; implementation of new lift/transfer equipment; and broad-based training on the new equipment.
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