New paper: Adolescent depressive symptoms and early adult education and employment
April 2021: A new paper by PWHS PhD trainee Anita Minh in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health examines how the course of symptoms from ages 16–25 influences early adult education and employment in Canada and the USA.
New paper: Do workplace safety inspections lead to changes in hazard management?
April 2021: A new paper in Safety Science found that over 70% of respondents to a WorkSafeBC survey reported that inspections led to changes.
New paper: Do anxiety and depression disorders impact time to sustained return to work?
March 2021: A new paper in Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health finds that programs intended to improve return to work should take pre-existing and new onset anxiety and depression disorders into consideration and that gender-sensitive work disability strategies may be warranted.
New paper: Does gradually returning to work improve time to sustainable work after a work-acquired musculoskeletal disorder?
March 2021: A new paper in Occupational and Environmental Medicine finds an effect for seriously injured workers with longer disability durations, especially women, workers with soft-tissue injuries, and for trade and manufacturing sectors.
New paper: A realist review of violence prevention education in healthcare
March 2021: A new paper in Healthcare describes a realist review that informs practical program and policy decisions to enhance violence prevention education effectiveness in healthcare settings.
Webinar: Return to work and mobile workers: seafarers and other interjurisdictional workers
March 2021: A webinar April 1 at 10 am PDT will feature PWHS Research Associate Robert Macpherson examining whether differences in work disability duration for out-of-province workers vary by industry and context, with a specific focus on the factors that influence return-to-work of mobile workers in BC. Register
COVID-19 risks and BC construction workers
February 2021: An article in the Journal of Commerce describes research from the Vancouver School of Economics and our co-director, Mieke Koehoorn, on risk of COVID-19 transmission in workplaces. A research brief on this work is available.
Webinar: Work disability policy and practices supporting healthcare and mobility of injured and disabled workers
February 2021: A webinar March 10 at 10am EST will examine which healthcare professionals are recognized by workers’ compensation boards and why is this relevant to the care and return-to-work experience of injured workers, as well as how work disability policy frameworks and programs support or impede Canadians with physical disabilities to engage in work-related travel, or ‘work mobility’. Register
Webinar: A realist evaluation of violence prevention education in healthcare
February 2021: PWHS PhD candidate Sharon Provost will discuss findings and practical recommendations from a realist evaluation of the education for BC healthcare workers to prevent violence from patients and visitors at the SPPH Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (OEH) seminar on Friday, March 5 at 12:30 pm PST.
Differences in work disability duration between out-of-province and within-province injured workers
January 2021: A new paper in Occupational and Environmental Medicine finds that out-of-province workers experience longer disability durations, particularly in some sectors and in western provinces.
Men and women at work in Canada, 1991–2016
January 2021: A new paper in Labour & Industry describes the distribution of labour by sex/gender across occupations in the Canadian workforce and examines changes in this distribution since 1991.
Anxiety and depression disorders in men and women with work-related strains or sprains
January 2021: A new paper in Occupational and Environmental Medicine examines the prevalence and risk factors for anxiety and depression disorders among men and women with musculoskeletal strain or sprain work injury in BC.
Webinar: Determining hazard management changes in workplaces following workplace safety inspections
January 2021: PWHS research associate Robert Macpherson will discuss the factors that best determine hazard management changes following workplace inspections conducted by WorkSafeBC at the SPPH Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (OEH) seminar on Friday, Jan 29 at 12:30 pm PST.
Webinar: Work & Health Research in the Time of COVID
January 2021: PWHS postdoctoral fellow Sonja Senthanar will join a panel on challenges and strategies for engaged knowledge translation and exchange at a CARWH Working Session on Thursday, Jan 21 at 11 am PST.
Webinar: Work, COVID-19 and Inequities
November 2020: Our co-director Mieke Koehoorn will present at a Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy webinar on Nov 30 at 9 am PST. Mieke’s presentation will explore the work and health challenges of the pandemic, including workplace community transmission of the coronavirus, employer-paid sick leave benefits, and the ability to work from home.
Free EPICOH 2020 Webinars Dec 9 and 11
November 2020: The EPICOH 2020 conference has been postponed to 2021, but a series of webinars are planned for Dec 9 and 11, 2020. These sessions, featuring presentations and an opportunity to interact with occupational epidemiology colleagues, will be free but require pre-registration.
Pandemic-related worksite restrictions critical for health and safety — and for business
November 2020: Co-Director Chris McLeod was interviewed for an article in the Journal of Commerce, focused on measures to keep construction employees safe in the workplace during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Webinar: The changing face of mesothelioma in Canada
October 2020: PWHS co-director Chris McLeod and Paul Demers, Director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, will discuss the changing patterns and trends in the incidence of mesothelioma in Canada at the SPPH Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (OEH) seminar on Friday, Oct 30 at 12:30 pm PDT.
Webinar: Workplace Transmission of Covid-19
Sept 2020: PWHS Co-Director Mieke Koehoorn is speaking with Cheryl Peters of CAREX Canada about a recent analysis of media articles on workplace outbreaks of COVID-19 in a webinar hosted by the Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario (IAVGO) and CAREX Canada Oct 5 at 11am PT. This webinar is intended for law and labour professionals, or anyone interested in workers’ health. A research brief reporting on this analysis of media articles is available here.
New paper: Age differences in work-disability duration across Canada
September 2020: A new paper by Jonathan Fan, Robert Macpherson, Chris McLeod and colleagues examined age differences in work disability duration and found that older age is not always strongly associated with worse disability duration outcomes.
Webinar: Understanding Gender Differences in Work-Related Health Outcomes
Sept 2020: Research Associate Robert Macpherson will discuss differences in work-related health outcomes between men and women, and how an understanding of these differences can be used to improve work disability management and rehabilitation policy and practice, in a webinar hosted by the Work Wellness Institute on Sept 9 at 10am PT. Please register in advance.
BC COVID-19 Research and Collaboration Symposium: Public Health, Populations, Health Services, and Impacts
August 2020: PWHS Co-Directors Mieke Koehoorn and Chris McLeod are presenting Sept 1-2 at BC COVID-19 Research and Collaboration Symposium, organized by the BC Academic Health Sciences Network.
The Social Determinants of Following Public Health Advice
August 2020: Great article from UBC SPPH mentioning our findings that those unable to work from home are more likely to be in the lowest income group, in precarious employment, and least likely to have paid sick leave; and that immigrant workers reported higher levels of financial distress and greater concern of job loss due to COVID-19, compared to Canadian-born workers.
Return to Work COR certification in BC
July 2020: We have posted a new research brief discussing our evaluation of the Return to Work COR program in BC – an additional certification that firms already holding COR certification could earn prior to 2012. We found that this additional certification does not appear to provide any additional benefit on disability duration.
Impact of COVID-19 on employment and financial security of immigrant workers compared to Canadian-born workers
June 2020: We conducted an analysis of employment and economic concerns of immigrant workers compared to Canadian-born workers, and investigated if employment concern impacted perceived mental health, using the Statistics Canada Canadian Perspectives Survey Series 1, a new web panel survey that was conducted for two weeks in March after the COVID-19 pandemic began.