Current research

Providing evidence that supports the reduction of serious work injuries and illnesses and that reduces disability duration is a cross-cutting focus of Partnership research. Our current areas of focus include:

Evaluation of occupational health and safety programs and regulations, such as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario’s return to work policies and practices in the construction sector, WorkSafeBC’s Certificate of Recognition audit program and a realist evaluation of the BC violence prevention curriculum in the health care sector.
Development of a national and international comparative research agenda.
Identification of gender and sex differences in the risk of work injury, compensation policy, and return to work.

More about our overall research program and goals.

Recent publications

Injury and Return to Work Among Maritime Workers in British Columbia, Canada

Journal article
Neis B, Macpherson RA, Shan D, Small C, Ochs C, Tamburic L, McLeod CB.
New Solut. 2025 Mar 4:10482911251316325. doi: 10.1177/10482911251316325. Online ahead of print.

Occupational asbestos exposure and gastrointestinal cancers: systematic review and meta-analyses

Journal article
Koehoorn M, McLeod CB, Fan J, Arrandale VH, Davies HW, Dement JM, Pahwa M, Peters CE, Stayner L, Straif K, Demers PA.
Occup Environ Med. 2025 Feb 10:oemed-2024-109707. doi: 10.1136/oemed-2024-109707. Online ahead of print.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Occupational Health and Safety Management System Certification Program on Firm Work Injury Rates in Alberta, Canada

Journal article
McLeod CB, Macpherson RA.
Am J Ind Med. 2024 Dec 17. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23690. Online ahead of print.

Occupational Asbestos Exposure and Gastrointestinal Cancers: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Report to The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) Ontario
Koehoorn M, Demers PA, McLeod CB, Arrandale V, Davies HW, Dement J, Fan J, Pahwa M, Peters CE, Stayner L, Straif K.
Vancouver, BC: Partnership for Work, Health and Safety; 2023.

Heat-related illness among workers in British Columbia, Canada: Extreme hot weather in 2021 compared to 2001-2020

Journal article
Guo X, Weinberger KR, Tamburic L, Peters CE, McLeod CB.
Scand J Work Environ Health. 2024 Jul 31:4179. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.4179. Online ahead of print.

The impact of regulatory workplace safety inspections on workers’ compensation claim rates

Journal article
McLeod CB, Macpherson RA, He A, Amick BC, Koehoorn M, Tompa E.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2024 Jul 24. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23640

More publications

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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.