Archives by date

December 2022: This paper describes the incidence of heat-related illness among workers in BC from 2001-2020. Rates were higher among male workers, younger workers, and among those working in occupations related to primary industry; trades, transport and equipment operators; and processing, manufacturing, and utilities. Read more in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

November 2022: Chris McLeod will give a virtual talk discussing the effectiveness of HC management systems for the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium on Dec 1 at 9:30 am PST. Register here, or learn more about our research in this area.

November 2022: The inaugural edition of the IDIVOSH global forum, June 12-14 2023 in Montreal, will focus on the theme Immigration, Diversity of the Workforce, Precariousness and Vulnerabilities in Occupational Health and Safety. Abstracts are due January 9, 2023.

November 2022: This paper investigates differences in modified-return-to work (MRTW) after a work-related injury by immigration characteristics – defined as a Canadian-born worker versus a worker who immigrated via the economic, family member or refugee/other humanitarian classification. Immigrant workers who arrived to Canada as a family member or as a refugee/other immigrant had a reduced odds of MRTW within the first 30 days of work disability for a back strain, concussion and limb fracture, compared to Canadian-born workers. Read more in Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation.

October 2022: Abstracts are now being accepted for podium presentations, ignite talks, and posters on occupational, environmental, or population health topics for the Cascadia Symposium on Environmental, Occupational, and Public Health, January 5-6, 2023, at Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, WA. The conference will feature four cross-institution, cross-disciplinary themes (precarious work & work organization, climate change, wildfires, and the built environment) as well as presentations from across the fields of environmental, occupational, and population health.

September 2022: The annual Cascadia Symposium on Environmental, Occupational, and Public Health Conference will re-launch January 5-6, 2023 at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, WA. Please save the date and stay tuned for more information!

July 2022: Listen to Chris McLeod describe the methodology we used in assessing how the COR™ program affected lost-time and high-impact injury rates in Ontario in the IHSA Safety Podcast. In this discussion, Paul Casey of Ontario’s Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) also shares what prompted IHSA to engage with PWHS.

July 2022: The Canadian Association for Research in Work and Health (CARWH) is taking place online September 15-16, 2022, with the theme “The Changing World of Work, Health and Research.” This year, attendance will be free to all. Abstract submissions for oral and poster presentations are welcome, and the deadline for submissions is extended to Friday, July 22.

June 2022: PWHS and the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) are looking for public transport workers ages 35 and under to participate in our research project to better understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on young workers and their workplace mental health.

May 2022: Co-director Chris McLeod presented findings showing COR leads to safer workplaces at the Ontario General Contractors Association’s annual Leadership Day, held May 6 in Vaughan, ON. Read more in the Journal of Commerce.

April 2022: April 28 is National Day of Mourning in remembrance of workers who lost their live to workplace injury and disease this year. A ceremony will be held on April 2 at 10:30 am at Jack Poole Plaza in Vancouver. Watch our co-director Chris McLeod’s message.

April 2022: PWHS and the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE) are seeking (1) a Project Coordinator/Interviewer and (2) a Qualitative Research Lead/Interviewer to conduct a mixed-methods study that will critically assess the effect of COVID-19 policies on violence, bullying, and harassment in the BC food and beverage service sector. Please note that these positions closed on April 20, 2022.

January 2022: Using WorkSafeBC and Statistics Canada data for 2010-2017, we found that workers from out of province had lower workers’ compensation claim rates than those from within province, even after adjusting for sex, age, industry and year. Differences were largest among health care only claims and smallest among serious injury claims. Read more in American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

January 2022: We examined differences in work disability duration by firm size using data from five Canadian and five Australian workers’ compensation systems. Compared to large firms (200+ FTEs), workers in small firms (<20 FTEs) had longer work disability duration in all but one of the study jurisdictions, even after adjusting for a range of individual-level characteristics. Read more in Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation.