Asthma Among Manitoba Workers: Results from the Manitoba Occupational Disease Surveillance System.

Background: This study characterized the risk of new-onset asthma among workers in Manitoba, Canada.

Methods: Accepted time loss claims from the Workers' Compensation Board of Manitoba from 2006 to 2019, containing workers' occupations and industries, were linked with administrative health data from 1996 to 2020. After restricting the cohort to the first claim per person in an occupation and applying age and coverage exclusions, the cohort comprised 142,588 person-occupation combinations.

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

Background: Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) certification programs have the potential to improve workplace health and safety. In Canada, the Certificate of Recognition (COR) program is an example of such program and has been introduced in many industries and provinces. This study's objective was to identify whether the implementation of the COR program led to greater reduction in firm work-related injuries in Alberta, Canada.

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

Objectives: British Columbia (BC), Canada, experienced an unprecedented summer with record-breaking high temperatures in 2021. Yet the health impact has not been examined in occupational settings. This study aimed to characterize occupational heat-related illness (HRI) among BC workers estimated by incidence rates and associations between heatwaves and HRI, compare risks from 2021 and prior summers of 2001-2020, and assess differential impacts on worker groups by demographics and occupations.

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

Background: Studies on the impact of workplace safety inspections on work injuries have found mixed effectiveness. Most studies are from the United States, examining Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) regulatory inspections in manufacturing firms with more than 10 employees. This study examines whether regulatory inspections in Alberta, Canada, result in reductions in workers' compensation claims rates for inspected firms relative to comparable non-inspected firms.

Work Disability Duration Among Mobile Workers: Does Intraprovincial Mobility Matter as Much as Interprovincial Mobility?

Objective: The aim of the study is to compare work disability duration of intraprovincially and interprovincially mobile workers with nonmobile workers in British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: Workers' compensation claims were extracted for workers injured between 2010 and 2019. Employer and residential postal codes were converted to economic regions to define nonmobile, intraprovincially, and interprovincially mobile workers.

Do regional labor market conditions matter for temporary work disability duration? A multilevel analysis of workers' compensation claims in five Canadian provinces.

Background: Research has shown how regionally varying labor market conditions are associated with differences in work disability duration. However, the majority of these studies have not used multilevel models to appropriately account for the hierarchical clustering of individuals nested within contextual units (e.g.

Continuation of telework in the post-pandemic era: Healthcare employees' preference and determinants.

Now in the post-pandemic era, healthcare employers and leaders must navigate decisions around use of telework arrangements made popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among healthcare employees who teleworked during the pandemic, this study investigates preference to continue teleworking post-pandemic and the determinants of this preference. An overwhelming majority (99%) preferred to continue teleworking to some degree and the majority (52%) preferred to telework for all work hours.

Masking strategy to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19: An umbrella meta-analysis.

Background: The burden of severe disease and death due to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic among healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide has been substantial. Masking is a critical control measure to effectively protect HCWs from respiratory infectious diseases, yet for COVID-19, masking policies have varied considerably across jurisdictions. As Omicron variants began to be predominant, the value of switching from a permissive approach based on a point of care risk assessment (PCRA) to a rigid masking policy needed to be assessed.

Heat-Related Illness Among Workers in British Columbia, 2001-2020.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of heat-related illness among workers in British Columbia (BC), Canada, 2001-2020.

Methods: Cases of heat-related illness occurring among workers aged 15 years and older were identified from accepted lost-time claims from WorkSafeBC, the provincial workers' compensation board. Incidence rates were calculated using monthly estimates of the working population from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey as the denominator.

The role of low educational attainment on the pathway from adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems to early adult labour market disconnection in the Dutch TRAILS cohort.

Mental health challenges in adolescence may affect labour market transitions in young adulthood. Policies addressing early labour market disconnection largely focus on early school-leaving and educational attainment; however, the role of low educational attainment on the path from adolescent mental health to labour market disconnection is unclear. Using the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey from the Netherlands (n = 1,197), we examined the extent to which achieving a basic educational qualification (by age 22) in the contemporary Dutch education system, mediates the effect of adolescent mental health (age 11-19) on early adult labour market disconnection, defined as 'not in education, employment, or training' (NEET, age 26).

Differences in Modified-Return-to-Work by Immigration Characteristics Among a Cohort of Workers in British Columbia, Canada.

Introduction To investigate differences in modified-return-to work (MRTW) within the first 30 days of a work-related, short-term disability injury by immigration characteristics. This question was part of a program of research investigating differences in work and health experiences among immigrant workers and explanations for longer work disability durations. Methods Workers' compensation claims, immigration records and medical registry data were linked to identify a sample of workers in British Columbia, Canada with a short-term disability claim for a work-related back strain, concussion, limb fracture or connective tissue injury occurring between 2009 and 2015.

Pre-existing anxiety and depression disorders and return to work after musculoskeletal strain or sprain: a phased-based approach.

Purpose: To examine the impact of pre-existing anxiety and depression disorders on return to work (RTW) using a phase-based approach.

Methods: Accepted lost-time workers' compensation claims for upper limb or spine strain or sprain from 2009 to 2013 were extracted for workers in the Canadian province of British Columbia (n = 78,186). Pre-existing anxiety and depression disorders were identified using health claims data.

Differences in workers' compensation claim rates for within-province and out-of-province workers in British Columbia, Canada, 2010-2017.

Background: Little is known about the work-related injury and illness risk of out-of-province workers. This study examines whether there are differences in work-related injury and illness claim rates between within-province and out-of-province workers in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Methods: Workers' compensation claim data for injuries and illnesses in BC from 2010 to 2017 were linked with denominator data from Statistics Canada.

Exploring Differences in Work Disability Duration by Size of Firm in Canada and Australia.

Purpose To identify whether there were differences in work disability duration between injured workers employed by small, medium, large, and self-insured firms and whether these differences varied between workers' compensation jurisdictions in Canada and Australia. Methods Workers' compensation data were used to identify comparable lost-time, work-related injury and musculoskeletal disorder claims in five Canadian and five Australian jurisdictions between 2011 and 2015. Work disability duration was measured using cumulative disability days paid up to one-year post-injury.

Evaluating effectiveness of an integrated return-to-work and vocational rehabilitation program on work disability duration in the construction sector.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether an integrated return-to-work (RTW) and vocational rehabilitation (VR) program - the Work Reintegration (WR) program - was associated with reduced work disability duration in the construction sector in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Workers' compensation data from the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board were extracted for lost-time construction worker claims following work-related injuries between 2009 and 2015. Claims receiving referrals to RTW and VR specialists (treatments) were matched with claims receiving no referrals (controls) during the periods before and after the WR program introduction.

Differences in Work Disability Duration for Immigrants and Canadian-Born Workers in British Columbia, Canada.

This study aimed to investigate differences in work disability duration among immigrants (categorized as economic, family member or refugee/other classification upon arrival to Canada) compared to Canadian-born workers with a work-related injury in British Columbia. Immigrants and Canadian-born workers were identified from linked immigration records with workers' compensation claims for work-related back strain, connective tissue, concussion and fracture injuries requiring at least one paid day of work disability benefits between 2009 to 2015. Quantile regression investigated the relationship between immigration classification and predicted work disability days (defined from injury date to end of compensation claim, up to 365 days) and modeled at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile of the distribution of the disability days.

An Umbrella Review of the Work and Health Impacts of Working in an Epidemic/Pandemic Environment.

This umbrella review of reviews examined the evidence on the work and health impacts of working in an epidemic/pandemic environment, factors associated with these impacts, and risk mitigation or intervention strategies that address these factors. We examined review articles published in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase between 2000 and 2020. Data extracted from the included reviews were analyzed using a narrative synthesis.

Depressive Symptom Trajectories and Early Adult Education and Employment: Comparing Longitudinal Cohorts in Canada and the United States.

Adolescent depressive symptoms are risk factors for lower education and unemployment in early adulthood. This study examines how the course of symptoms from ages 16-25 influences early adult education and employment in Canada and the USA. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth ( = 2348) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 Child/Young Adult ( = 3961), four trajectories (low-stable; increasing; decreasing; and increasing then decreasing, i.

Impact of anxiety and depression disorders on sustained return to work after work-related musculoskeletal strain or sprain: a gender stratified cohort study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of anxiety and depression disorders on sustained return to work (RTW) for men and women with musculoskeletal strain or sprain.

Methods: Accepted lost-time claims for spine and upper-extremity strain or sprain were extracted for workers in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 2009 to 2013 (N=84 925). Pre-existing and new onset anxiety and depression disorders were identified using longitudinal health claims data.

Do differences in work disability duration by interjurisdictional claim status vary by industry and jurisdictional context?

Objectives: To examine whether differences in work disability duration between out-of-province and within-province workers differed by industry and jurisdictional context.

Methods: Workers' compensation data were used to identify comparable lost time, work-related injury and musculoskeletal disorder claims accepted in six Canadian jurisdictions between 2006 and 2015. Out-of-province workers were identified as workers who filed claims in a different provincial jurisdiction to their province of residence.

Prevalence and risk factors for anxiety and depression disorders in workers with work-related musculoskeletal strain or sprain in British Columbia, Canada: a comparison of men and women using administrative health data.

Objective: To examine the prevalence and risk factors for medically treated anxiety and depression disorders among men and women with musculoskeletal strain or sprain work injury in British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: A retrospective population-based cohort of accepted workers' compensation lost-time claims from 2000 to 2013 was constructed using linked administrative health data. Anxiety and depression disorders were identified using diagnoses from physician, hospital and pharmaceutical records.

Age Differences in Work-Disability Duration Across Canada: Examining Variations by Follow-Up Time and Context.

Purpose This study aimed to understand age differences in wage-replacement duration by focusing on variations in the relationship across different periods of follow-up time. Methods We used administrative claims data provided by six workers' compensation systems in Canada. Included were time-loss claims for workers aged 15-80 years with a work-related injury/illness during the 2011 to 2015 period (N = 751,679 claims).

Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Depressive Symptom Trajectories in the Transition to Adulthood in the United States and Canada.

Purpose: We examined whether young people in the U.S. and Canada exhibit similar depressive symptom trajectories in the transition to adulthood and compared the effect of childhood socioeconomic status on trajectory membership.

Gender Differences in Surgery for Work-Related Musculoskeletal Injury: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine if women are less likely than men to receive surgery following work-related musculoskeletal injury in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Methods: The study included 2,403 workers with work-related knee meniscal tear, thoracic/lumbar disc displacement or rotator cuff tear. Probability of surgery was compared by gender using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox proportional hazards models.