May 2025: Immigrant workers are overly represented in high risk and precarious jobs that are not commensurate with their background, skills and experience. This study examined the association between use of government-funded employment-related (ER) settlement services and paid employment of immigrants arriving in Canada between 2015 and 2017. The cohort was restricted to immigrants with no paid employment in their year of landing to examine the direct impact of ER service on subsequent employment. Immigrants displayed a higher odds of paid employment the year following the ER service, compared to immigrants who did not access ER services. Read more in PLOSOne.

April 2025: On April 28, 2025, workers, families, and employers gather at commemorative ceremonies to honour the workers who lost their lives last year due to workplace injury and disease and renew our commitment to creating healthy and safe workplaces for everyone. Whether you’re an employer, supervisor, prime contractor, or worker, you have a role to play in keeping the workplace safe. A public Day of Mourning ceremony will take place at Jack Poole Plaza in downtown Vancouver on Monday, April 28th at 10:00 am. Learn more at dayofmourning.bc.ca.

March 2025: Seafaring, fishing, marine aquaculture, and longshore work tend to be hazardous occupations with high injury rates. They are associated with varying levels of seasonality, shift work, geographic mobility, and different types of remuneration, posing unique challenges when recovering from work-related injury and illness. This paper presents findings from a mixed methods research program designed to provide insight into injury, compensation and RTW experiences among BC maritime workers. Read more in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy.

February 2025: Asbestos is classified as carcinogenic to humans by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and identified as a specific cause of mesothelioma and cancers of the lung, larynx and ovary, primarily among occupationally exposed workers. Epidemiological evidence for occupational asbestos exposure as a cause of gastrointestinal cancers among workers has been suggestive, limited or inadequate. The objective of this work was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analyses of occupational asbestos exposure and esophageal, stomach and colorectal cancer risk. The meta-analyses support a causal link between occupational asbestos exposure and the risk of esophageal, stomach, and colorectal cancer. Read more in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

January 2025: PWHS MSc trainee Harman Sandhu will present on return-to-work outcomes for workers with work-related chronic pain and concurrent psychological injuries in BC, and Director of Privacy and Operations Suhail Marino will present on safety challenges specific to small construction firms at the Annual Cascadia Symposium on Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health, January 9-10, 2025 in Blaine, WA.

October 2024: The Annual Cascadia Symposium on Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health will be held January 9-10, 2025 at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, WA. Registration and the call for abstracts are open.