COVID-19
COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. In short order, the world of work changed dramatically in Canada. Non-essential businesses were locked down. Some workers lost their jobs; others were sent home to work. Despite protections, workers in sectors ranging from health care to transportation to food production and retail faced risk of infection, illness and even death. IWH research examines the impact of the pandemic on workers and workplaces, as well as the lessons for work and health policy-makers to prepare for the next pandemic.
Featured
At Work article
What can work-related COVID-19 cases tell us about how to prepare for the next pandemic?
A new study by IWH combined data sources to estimate work-related COVID-19 infection rates, using a method that took into account major shifts in where people worked.
Published: February 6, 2024
IWH Speaker Series
Refining estimates of occupational exposures and risk of workplace COVID-19 transmission
Published: January 16, 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Telework and 24-h movement behaviours among adults living in Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic
Published: Preventative Medicine, June 2024
Journal article
Journal article
The health and safety experiences of precariously employed Bangladeshi immigrant workers in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic
Published: New Solutions, May 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Factors contributing to increased workplace violence against nurses during COVID-19 in the healthcare settings of a lower middle-income country: a qualitative study
Published: Asian Nursing Research, April 2024
At Work article
What can work-related COVID-19 cases tell us about how to prepare for the next pandemic?
To what extent did workplace exposures account for the transmission of the COVID-19 virus during the first two years of the pandemic? A new study by IWH combined data sources to estimate work-related infection rates, using a method that took into account major shifts in where people worked. It found the role of work exposure changed from wave to wave, in a dynamic pattern not in keeping with the number of cases in the general population.
Published: February 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Prevalence of unmet rehabilitation needs among Canadians living with long-term conditions or disabilities during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
Published: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, February 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Variation in occupational exposure risk for COVID-19 workers' compensation claims across pandemic waves in Ontario
Published: Occupational & Environmental Medicine, February 2024
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Refining estimates of occupational exposures and risk of workplace COVID-19 transmission
The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on the importance of having accurate data on workplace exposure to infectious diseases. Efforts to estimate infection rates of COVID-19 during the public health emergency were hampered by inadequate information on key factors, such as whether an infected worker had worked from home or interacted with the public. In this presentation, Dr. Peter Smith shares results from a study that examined the risk of work-related COVID-19 infections. He discusses methods used by the team to combine data sources to take into account changes in labour market participation—including working from home—during different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published: January 2024
Journal article
Journal article
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community-based brain injury associations across Canada: a cross-sectional survey study
Published: Frontiers in Public Health, November 2023
Journal article
Journal article
Understanding the early impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on brain injury associations across Canada: a qualitative study
Published: Inquiry, November 2023
Journal article
Journal article
Continuation of telework in the post-pandemic era: healthcare employees' preference and determinants
Published: Healthcare Management FORUM, May 2023