Eastern Canada Consortium on Workplace Health and Safety

Project Title

Eastern Canada Consortium on Workplace Health and Safety

Summary

The overall goal of the Consortium was to permit integration of current SafetyNet research pertaining to fisheries, oil and gas, and work in extreme climatic conditions with related work at IRSST and affiliated universities in Québec. The core partners, by pooling their expertise, networks and approaches, aimed to develop improved methods for analysing injury causes and prevention in resource-based and rural workplaces and new approaches to knowledge translation appropriate for rural and remote contexts. The main objectives of the project were to (1) identify the best practices for knowledge transfer (KT) developed in Québec and adapt these for Newfoundland and Labrador conditions; (2) provide training for graduate and post-doctoral students and retraining opportunities for established researchers in workplace health and safety; (3) transfer relevant workplace health and safety research results from Québec to Atlantic Canadian researchers, community partners, industries, and workplaces; (4) develop new models to analyze and prevent workplace injuries, disabilities and diseases; and (5) fund pilot projects that could lead to grant applications for larger research ventures.

List of Project Outputs

  • Pilot Projects:
    1. Safety For Male and Female Divers in the Sea Urchin Fishery
    2. Testing Work Disability Prevention Tools and Programs in a New Setting (PRÉVICAP)
    3. Low-Back Injury Prevention in Resource-Based Occupations
    4. Interdisciplinary Forestry Workplace Health and Safety Research
  • Quick Hits:
    1. Construction
    2. Ventilation Design and Protein Analysis in Crab Processing
    3. Knife Sharpening in Meat and Fish Processing
    4. Floor Cleaning as a Preventive Measure against Slip and Fall Accidents

 

Lead Investigators

Barbara Neis, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Mario Roy, Université de Sherbrooke

Co-Investigators

Alain Lajoie, Institut de Recherche Robert Sauvé en Santé et en Securité du Travail
Danièle Champoux, Institut de Recherche Robert Sauvé en Santé et en Securité du Travail
Stephen Bornstein, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Robert Parent, Université de Sherbrooke
Lise Desmarais, Université de Sherbrooke
Scott MacKinnon, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Other Team Members

Lynn Hartery, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland 
Gunita Wadhwa, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland 
Patrick Abgrall, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland 
Erin Massey, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland 
Julie Matthews, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Melanie Noel, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland
David Antle, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Project Partners

SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Institut de Recherche Robert Sauvé en Santé et en Securité du Travail (IRSST)
Chaire d’Étude en Organisation du Travail (CÉOT), Université de Sherbrooke

Community Collaborators

Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour
Fish, Food and Allied Workers / Canadian Auto Workers Union (FFAW/CAW)
Department of Government Services, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Funding Sources

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Lexicon:  English    French

Outputs

Publications

Desmarais, L., Parent, R., leclerc, L., Raymond, L., MacKinnon, S., & Vezina, N. (2009).  Knowledge transfer between two geographically distant action research teams.  Journal of Workplace Learning, 21(3), 219-239.

Coombs-Thorne, H., Bradbury, E., Neis, B., Bornstein, S., MacKinnon, S., & Parent, R. (2010).  Interjurisdictional knowledge transfer in occupational health and safety: Lessons from eastern Canada.  Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 8(1), 95-109.

Presentations

Neis, B., & MacKinnon, S. (2008).  Moving occupational health and safety knowledge in Eastern Canada: Lessons learned.  Presentation to the Knowledge in Montion Conference.  St. John's, October 16-18.

Neis, B. (2008).  Dancing with a porcupine: Lessons on knowledge exchange from the field of health and safety.  Presentation to The Academia-Industry Cultural Divide, Genome BC Workshop.  Vancouver, December 5.

Contact Information

Barbara Neis, SafetyNet, Memorial University of Newfoundland
bneis@mun.ca

 

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