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
Issue Briefing
Estimating the financial return on employers’ investments in the prevention of work injuries in Ontario
Following a 2017 study to estimate occupational health and safety (OHS) expenditures by employers with 20 or more employees in Ontario, Canada, an Institute for Work & Health (IWH) team has set out to estimate the financial return on those OHS expenditures. This Issue Briefing shares findings from that follow-up study.
Published: May 2022
At Work article
Over a third of work-related ER visits in Ontario don’t show up as WSIB claims
About 35 to 40 per cent of emergency department visits in Ontario for the treatment of work-related injuries and illnesses don't show up as workers' compensation claims—indicating a level of under-reporting that's consistent with previous estimates.
Published: March 2022
Impact case study
WSIB includes Institute safety culture tool in Health and Safety Excellence Program
Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board made a modified version of an Institute safety culture tool called the IWH-OPM available to firms as a voluntary component of participating in its Health and Safety Excellence Program.
Published: March 2022
Research Highlights
Implementing participatory ergonomics in the long-term care sector
It can be challenging to tackle long-standing musculoskeletal hazards in busy, high turnover settings such as long-term care homes. Despite this, an IWH study finds a participatory approach—one that involves frontline workers—can be successfully implemented and sustained.
Published: February 2022
IWH in the media
Inquest witness pressed on Working at Heights training outcomes
Testimony from a senior Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MOL) policy manager on day three of Ontario’s swing stage inquest Feb. 2 revealed the ministry may be recommending changes to Working at Heights (WAH) training as soon as April. Don Wall reports.
Published: Daily Commercial News, February 2022
IWH in the media
Ontario ministry could recommend changes to working-at-heights training
A testimony from William Roy, a senior Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MOL) policy manager, revealed potential changes to working at heights (WAH) training which could be implemented as soon as April.
The revelation came on day three on Ontario’s swing stage inquest into the 2009 scaffolding collapse at an Etobicoke high rise, in which four people died. Roy's testimony included suggestions for training reforms, contained in a Feb. 2019 report conducted by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and commissioned by the Ministry.
The revelation came on day three on Ontario’s swing stage inquest into the 2009 scaffolding collapse at an Etobicoke high rise, in which four people died. Roy's testimony included suggestions for training reforms, contained in a Feb. 2019 report conducted by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and commissioned by the Ministry.
Published: Canadian Occupational Safety , February 2022
Journal article
Journal article
Unionisation and injury risk in construction: a replication study
Published: Occupational & Environmental Medicine, January 2022
Project
Project
Trends in the severity of work-related injury in Ontario
IWH is developing a method to classify the severity of work-related injuries presenting to hospital emergency departments.
Status: Completed
Journal article
Journal article
The prevalence and correlates of workplace infection control practices in Canada between July and September 2020
Published: Health Reports, November 2021
Journal article
Journal article
Implementation of participatory organizational change in long term care to improve safety
Published: Journal of Safety Research, September 2021