Call for proposals: Workers’ Health and Return to Work in a Changing World of Work

September 2023: The Policy and Practice in Return to Work after Work Injury (PPRTW) Research Group at the University of Ottawa is presenting a conference titled Workers’ Health and Return to Work in a Changing World of Work in person at the University of Ottawa June 9 to 11, 2024.

The conference will also include a tribute to the late professor Katherine Lippel, an international leader in labour and health policy, and founder of the research group holding the conference.

Researchers, students, injured or ill workers, community members, advocates and policy-makers are invited to submit presentation proposals.

Details: https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-law/civil-law/occupational-health-safety-law/pprat/conference

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Day of Mourning

April 2024: On April 28, 2024, workers, families, and employers will gather at commemorative ceremonies to honour the 175 BC workers who lost their lives last year due to workplace injury and disease. Join us as we reflect on those we’ve lost, 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 Sunday, April 28th at 10:30 am, with the Olympic Cauldron being lit in honour of the day. A livestream of the event will be available at dayofmourning.bc.ca.

Are you a young construction worker?

April 2024: We are looking for young workers in the British Columbia (BC) construction industry to complete a confidential online survey about their current job/trade, working conditions that could contribute to musculoskeletal symptoms, and how these affect their well-being. Respondents will be entered into a draw to win a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for participating.

New paper: Does intra-provincial mobility matter as much as inter-provincial mobility?

January 2024: This paper uses residential and employer location from workers’ compensation data to identify non-mobile workers (working and living in the same region of BC), intra-provincially mobile workers (working and living in different regions of BC) and inter-provincially mobile workers (working in BC and living outside BC) to estimate differences in work disability duration. The findings suggest that work disability duration was longest for inter-provincially mobile workers, even after matching workers on similar characteristics. Differences were attenuated in some industries (e.g., natural resources and mining), possibly due to more familiarity with mobile workers, and/or greater ability to accommodate workers. Read more in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.