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.

Individuals who consent will be entered into a draw to win a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for participating in this study.

Findings from this project will be used to help develop education and training and inform the early identification and interventions to improve construction workers’ mental health and musculoskeletal health.

We are recruiting participants who:

Are between the ages of 16 and 30 years
Are currently employed in the construction industry in BC, and have been for at least one month at the time of completing the survey
Have never been diagnosed with any type of work-related musculoskeletal injury by a medical doctor, physician or other healthcare provider.

If you are interested in sharing your experiences or would like to learn more about the project, please contact Chizitara Nkwopara at ycws.research@ubc.ca or 604-822-0200.

Learn more about the study here: Working conditions and mental health of young construction workers

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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.

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.

Presentations at Cascadia 2024

January 2024: PWHS PhD student Xiaocong Guo will present on heat-related illness and injury in BC in 2021 compared to 2001-2020; Research Associate Robert Macpherson will present on work injury among fisheries, aquaculture, maritime and land transportation workers, and Director of Privacy and Operations Suhail Marino will present posters evaluating OHS management systems at the Annual Cascadia Symposium on Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health, January 11-12, 2024 in Blaine, WA.