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
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
IWH in the media
They made doors, gum and jerry cans. Ontario’s ‘essential’ workers in manufacturing accounted for more workplace COVID deaths than any other sector — even health care
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.
Published: Toronto Star, October 2022
At Work article
Study of educators during pandemic found psychosocial conditions worse for those teaching online
In the fall of 2020, Ontario educators who taught in a virtual environment felt isolated and unsupported, while those working in-person experienced anxiety related to the risk of COVID transmission. That’s according a study of Ontario teachers, conducted by OHCOW and IWH.
Published: October 2022
Journal article
Journal article
A media surveillance analysis of COVID-19 workplace outbreaks in Canada and the United States
Published: FACETS, August 2022
Research Highlights
Working conditions for Greater Toronto Area personal support workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Personal support workers (PSWs) faced a range of challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including concerns of contracting or transmitting the virus, reduced work hours and income, loss of childcare services and lack of paid sick leave. While the pandemic highlighted the importance of the PSW workforce to the Canadian health-care system, pre-existing poor working conditions—in particular, insecure jobs with few benefits—exacerbated COVID-19-related work experiences.
Published: July 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Increased workplace bullying against nurses during COVID-19: a health and safety issue
Published: Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, June 2022
Journal article
Journal article
The psychosocial work environment among educators during the COVID-19 pandemic
Published: Occupational Medicine, June 2022