Grant: CIHR New Investigator

My proposed program of research concerns how we can develop social, economic, and workplace policies to reduce health inequities over the working life course. The program is organized around two research areas.First, building on existing and emerging national and international research collaborations a series of comparative and cross-jurisdictional studies on occupational health and safety and workers' compensation will be conducted that have the focus of identifying differences in policies and practices that could lead to safer workplaces, reduced work-related injury and diseases and promote effective and timely return to work for workers who are injured or become ill due to work. Second, a series of comparative and cross-national studies on the health effects of availability of, and the nature of, work will be conducted. This research builds on previous scholarship that found that the negative association between unemployment and health was smaller in societies with greater economic and social supports for unemployed workers. It will examine a broader range of work experiences and health outcomes across a set of high-income countries that have different ways of organizing and structuring their labour market. This research program will advance our understanding of work-related health inequalities in Canada and internationally. It innovates by developing and extending comparative methods and by building and extending data and research partnerships that will have long-standing and practical impact. Its focus in investigating contextual effects across jurisdictions - whether they are institutional or structural aspects or specific policies - will provide evidence on the mechanisms through which we can effectively intervene in improving health in the workplace and in reducing work-related health inequalities.