1. Selected topics

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

A landscape worker cutting grass.
At Work article

IWH study reveals gaps in health and safety knowledge about new businesses

To best prevent injuries, OHS management in small businesses should start early in their lifecycle. But according to a new IWH study, few programs or policies are specifically aimed at helping new businesses start managing OHS.
Published: April 10, 2026
Daily Commercial News logo
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
Two male workers assemble vegetable crates in a warehouse
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
Construction work on the new Victoria Bridge in downtown Saskatoon
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
Journal article
Journal article

Employers' experiences with safe work integration of recent immigrants and refugees

Published: Safety Science, July 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
Closeup of hands around documents and a laptop in a business meeting
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
Wooden block letters spelling out R O I, with colourful arrows pointing to them
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