Illness/injury prevention
IWH has a long history of conducting research to provide practical guidance to employers, workers, OHS professionals and regulators about what works and what doesn’t in injury or illness prevention. This research targets the injury and illness prevention practices of workplaces, as well as the programs developed by governments, health and safety associations and others to support and motivate workplaces to adopt effective practices.
Featured
IWH Speaker Series
How businesses get their start in workplace health and safety: implications for research and policy
Published: April 21, 2026
At Work article
Differences in firm-level AI use for health and safety
To what extent are Canadian workplaces using artificial intelligence (AI) to help support workers’ health and safety? And what do these workplaces have in common? An IWH study surveyed firms across Ontario and British Columbia to find out.
Published: October 8, 2025
IWH in the media
Standardized working at heights training improves safety, study
A follow-up study looking at the impact of Ontario’s mandated working at heights training confirms standardized training results in safer work.
Published: Workers Health & Safety Centre, January 2023
IWH in the media
Report urges worker safety while respecting cultural differences
Growing numbers of immigrants are welcomed as an important tool in Canada's economic growth, but systemic OHS improvements are needed to ensure they can work as safely as their non-immigrant co-workers, Don Wall reports on an IWH study.
Published: Daily Commercial News, January 2023
Project
Project
Creating safe workplaces for newcomers
An IWH qualitative study is looking at feasible and effective approaches for helping employers create safe workplaces for newcomers.
Status: Ongoing
Project
Project
Programs of early OHS intervention with small businesses
What existing OHS interventions for small businesses can be feasibly implemented in small business start-ups? This project aims to find out.
Status: Ongoing
IWH Speaker Series
IWH Speaker Series
Preventing falls from heights in construction: a long-term evaluation of Ontario's working-at-heights training standard
In 2015, the province of Ontario implemented a working-at-heights (WAH) training standard requiring most construction workers to take a specific day-long training in fall prevention. A 2019 study conducted by the Institute for Work & Health found the training had positive impact on construction workers' safety knowledge, work practices and injury rates. In this presentation, Dr. Lynda Robson shares new findings on the longer-term impact of the training, drawing on two additional years of follow-up data.
Published: December 2022
At Work article
Employers struggle to provide newcomers with OHS training, support: IWH study
Employers are responsible for providing OHS training and support to keep workers safe. When it comes to workers who are new to Canada, workplaces face particular challenges following through on this responsibility.
Published: November 2022
Impact case study
Saskatchewan’s construction safety group uses IWH’s safety culture tool to measure OHS among member employers
When the Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association went looking for a tool to measure the OHS performance of its members firms, it turned to the Institute's easy-to-use, eight-item safety culture measure—the IWH-OPM.
Published: November 2022
Project
Project
Artificial intelligence and occupational injury and illness in Ontario: implications for prevention and recovery
This study—one of the first of its kind to better understand the implications of AI for Ontario’s health and safety system—will build the evidence base on the scope and use of AI applications in OHS and RTW.
Status: Ongoing
Journal article
Journal article
Employers' experiences with safe work integration of recent immigrants and refugees
Published: Safety Science, July 2022
Impact case study
IWH recommendations contribute to enhancement of the WSIB’s Health and Safety Index
When the WSIB decided to revisit the methods behind the Health and Safety Index, two IWH researchers provided advice on areas where the index could be improved. In October 2021, the HSI was revised, incorporating many of the suggestions provided by IWH.
Published: May 2022