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
IWH snapshot: Twenty years in the making
Find out how the Institute for Work & Health has grown from a small organization to a global leader in work-health research.
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At Work article
How modified work affects disability outcomes in long-term care
There is some evidence that modified work for injured workers in Ontario’s long-term care sector was associated with a lower burden of disability, according to an Institute for Work & Health (IWH) study.
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At Work article
IWH provides expertise to Ministry of Labour panel
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) has been providing research expertise to a Ministry of Labour panel tasked with reviewing Ontario’s health and safety prevention and enforcement system.
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At Work article
Research findings from CARWH conference now online
Workplace representatives, policy-makers and injured worker representatives shared the audience with researchers and students at the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health (CARWH) conference held in Toronto in May.
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At Work article
New Canadian guideline released on opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain
A new evidence-based Canadian Guideline for Safe and Effective Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-cancer pain was released in May.
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At Work article
Probing the link between occupation and risk of suicide
Is it an urban myth that workers in certain occupations, such as dentists, are more likely to commit suicide, or not? It turns out that for most occupations, your job does not increase your risk of suicide.
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At Work article
Grant round-up: IWH research gets the green light
Scientists typically need two key components to carry out research: a well-grounded research proposal and strong financial support. Here is a scan of what’s recently been given the green light.
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At Work article
Prevention team develops tool to measure leading indicators
There may be a time in the near future where a simple tool may help predict a firm’s future injury experience – and help to focus health and safety efforts.
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At Work article
Evidence summary shows what works in treating neck pain
Clinicians have tried various approaches to help workers with neck pain – but some have been proven ineffective in research.
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Issue Briefing
Shift work and health
Shift work — employment with anything other than a regular daytime work schedule — makes up a large part of work in the Canadian economy. For at least 50 years, researchers have been exploring the question of whether working shifts poses a health hazard. This briefing summarizes the findings of a selection of this research, including several review articles.
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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
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
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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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
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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