| Year Funded: 2011 | Budget: | Funding Agency: Institute for Work & Health (IWH), Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario |
|---|---|---|
| Title: | Niagara Health System Evaluation (IWH Project 2165) | |
| Category: | Compensation, Disability Management and Return to Work | |
| Subcategory: | Compensation, Disability Management and Return to Work | |
| Keywords: | health care, prevention, return-to-work, intervention | |
| Link to research website: | www.iwh.on.ca | |
Issue:
The burden of disabling musculoskeletal pain arising from work-related causes among workers in many health care settings in Ontario is substantial. This project proposes to measure the impact of a three-year organization change initiative to reduce the burden of work-related injury and illness in Ontario’s largest multi-site acute care community hospital system. The Niagara Health System (NHS) is an acute care community hospital system with seven sites in the Niagara region employing more than 4,300 staff. Over the past two years, NHS has identified limitations in the integrity of OHS policies and practices across the seven sites in the system. The organizational change initiative has been developed by Niagara Health System management and labour unions, with technical support provided by the Occupational Disability Response Team of the Ontario Federation of Labour, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers and the Public Services Health & Safety Association. Over the course of 2010, NHS senior management and union representatives committed to the implementation of a three year organization change plan to reduce the incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, improve workplace practices in the area of return-to-work and disability prevention and strengthen the culture of safety in the organization. Over the three year period 2011-2013, the objectives of the organizational change plan are to reduce the incidence of total compensation claims registered with the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board by 25% and to reduce the total days of disability provided wage replacement benefits by WSIB by 25%.
Objectives:
This research project will document the process and measure the outcomes of the organizational change plan. The research plan has three components: a) a quasi-experimental design, comparing workers’ compensation claim incidence and duration in the NHS to a comparable Ontario health care system for a three year period prior to and following January 2011, b) a repeated survey of a sample of approximately 350 NHS staff for each of three years (2011, 2012 and 2013) and c) two detailed case studies of the organizational change process, using both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Anticipated Results:
Partners supporting this project include the Niagara Health System, the Ontario Nurses’ Association, the Occupational Disability Response Team of the Ontario Federation of Labour, the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers and the Public Services Health & Safety Association. The results of this applied research project will be relevant to other acute care health care institutions in the province of Ontario and will be expected to provide evidence-based guidance to quality improvement initiatives focused on the protection of the health of health care workers in Ontario. This research project will also address gaps in the evidence base concerning the effectiveness and the cost/benefit ratio of integrated initiatives to reduce the burden of work-related disorders among health care workers.
Investigators:
Cam Mustard, Dwayne Van Eerd, Ben Amick (Institute for Work & Health)
