Dr. Peter Smith and his team at the Institute for Work and Health are breaking new ground in workplace safety, aiming to prevent devastating fatalities and critical incidents across Canada. With nearly $300,000 in funding from WorkSafe Ontario Fund, the team is connecting the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (the WSIB) claims records with workplace and environmental data sources—including the Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamic Database, offering insights into business size, workforce composition, turnover, and financials—alongside weather and pollution data. By integrating these factors, the team will identify conditions that increase the risk of critical incidents or fatalities.
Using these insights, Dr. Smith’s team is developing risk profiles and predictive models to help the WSIB and its partners identify high-risk workplaces and deliver targeted prevention strategies where they’re needed most. This means smarter inspections, proactive consultations, and focused interventions designed to stop tragedies before they occur.
This innovative research represents a major leap for workplace safety in Ontario. [QUOTE] His team is paving the way for smarter, data-driven safety initiatives with the potential to protect workers nationwide.
Stay tuned as this innovation work shapes the future of injury prevention.
Possible testimonial along the lines of: “We’re harnessing the power of data to help identify high-risk workplaces and prevent injuries before they happen. We want to build safer workplaces across Ontario,” says Dr. Peter Smith.
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