CIHR Project Grant Success: Substance Use, Work and Well-Being in Trades and Construction
July 2025: Chris McLeod, PWHS Director, and Lindsey Richardson, Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Sociology, are co-principal investigators on a successful CIHR project grant focused on reducing substance-use related harm among people working in construction and trades in BC. In the context of the ongoing, intractable challenges linked to drug use and drug-related harm, people working in construction and trades bear a disproportionate burden of this harm, and there is a lack of published, action-oriented research in this area. The work funded by this grant will fill critical research and knowledge mobilization gaps.
PWHS students win Best Student Oral Presentation Awards at the 2025 CARWH Conference
Jun 2025: Congratulations to Chizitara Nkwopara, a recent MSc OEH graduate, and Harman Sandhu, a current MSc OEH student, who received the Best Student Oral Presentation Awards at this year’s conference.
Presentations at CARWH 2025
June 2025: PWHS researchers will give five presentations at the Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health Conference, June 3-2, 2025 in Ottawa, ON.
New paper: Employment-related settlement services and paid employment for immigrants
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 PLoS One.
Day of Mourning
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.
New paper: Injury and return to work among maritime workers
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.
New paper: Occupational asbestos exposure and gastrointestinal cancers
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.
Presentations at Cascadia 2025
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.
Cascadia Symposium on Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health
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.
New paper: Heat-related illness among workers in BC
August 2024: BC experienced an unprecedented summer with record-breaking high temperatures in 2021. This study characterized occupational heat-related illness (HRI) among BC workers by estimating by incidence rates and associations between heatwaves and HRI, with a focus on comparing risks during the 2021 summer and prior summers from 2001-2020. Read more in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health.
New paper: The impact of regulatory workplace safety inspections on workers’ compensation claim rates
July 2024: This study examined whether regulatory workplace safety inspections in Alberta resulted in reductions in workers’ compensation claims rates for inspected firms relative to comparable non-inspected firms. Findings indicate that inspections generally do not result in greater reductions in firm-level claim rates in the construction, manufacturing, and transportation sectors. Read more in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
We are hiring! Seeking a Research Associate
July 2024: PWHS is seeking a Research Associate to lead a program of research on the evaluation of policies and programs designed to prevent work-related injury and illness and improve related disability and return-to-work outcomes. The Research Associate will have a sound understanding of the linkages between public policy and work-related health and safety outcomes, and will use observational research study designs to evaluate policies and programs; conduct statistical analyses; author manuscripts, reports and briefs; present findings; and engage with decision-makers. Apply by August 9!
Are you a young construction worker?
May 2024: The Young Construction Workers Study is looking for young workers in the British Columbia (BC) construction industry to complete a confidential online survey about their current job or trade, working conditions that could contribute to musculoskeletal symptoms, and how these affect their well-being. Chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you!
Are you a restaurant, cafe, or bar worker?
May 2024: The FABS study is looking for food and beverage sector workers who have experienced bullying, harassment, and/or violence at work in British Columbia (BC) to complete a confidential survey about these experiences. Share your story! We offer $25 for participation.
Presentations at the 34th International Congress on Occupational Health (ICOH)
April 2024: PWHS Director Chris McLeod is presenting on bullying and harassment among restaurant workers and telework and mental health during the covid pandemic in Marrakesh, Morocco, at the 34th International Congress on Occupational Health (ICOH).
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.
Registration, lodging and call for abstracts for Cascadia 2024: Occupational, Environmental & Population Health Conference
November 2024: The call for abstracts is open for podium presentations, ignite talks, and posters. Abstracts that relate to any occupational, environmental, or population health topics are welcome. Registration and hotel booking are now live.
Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA) Conference
November 2023: Our team is really looking forward to the upcoming ACSA Conference Nov 22-23! Chris McLeod will be speaking on a panel on improving psychological health and safety at work, and our team will host a breakout session on OHS strategies and solutions for small and micro construction firms.
Were you a restaurant or bar worker during COVID-19?
October 2023: The FABS study is interviewing employees who were bullied, harassed, and/or experienced violence in the workplace. We offer $75 for participation and interviews can be conducted in Spanish, Filipino, Punjabi, Farsi, Vietnamese, Chinese, and English. Share your story!
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 is presenting a conference 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.
Presentation at the Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
September 2023: PWHS PhD student Xiaocong (Maggie) Guo is presenting on the burden of occupational heat-related illness in BC and the impact of heatwaves on Sept 19 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, at the Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology.
Save the date: Cascadia 2024
September 2023: The Cascadia Occupational, Environmental & Population Health 2024 Conference will be held on January 11 & 12, 2024, at Semiahmoo Resort in Washington State. Watch for abstract submission and registration details to come!
Cameron Mustard award applications now being accepted
August 2023: The Institute for Work & Health is now accepting applications for its inaugural Cameron Mustard Early Career Accelerator Award. The application deadline is Friday September 29, 2023.