Research Project Summary

Year Funded: 2012 Budget: Funding Agency: Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario
Title: Validation of an Ontario Prevention System Leading Indicator (IWH Project 1230)
Category: Occupational Disease, Injury and Health Services
Subcategory: Occupational Health Services
Keywords: occupational health & safety, leading indicators, prevention
Link to research website: www.iwh.on.ca

Issue:

In 2008, all Ontario Prevention System Partners (HSAs, MOL, WSIB and IWH) developed and piloted eight questions to quickly assess an organization’s occupational health and safety performance. Using the eight questions, an organizational performance metric (OPM) was developed. In pilot work, the OPM predicted an employer’s injury and illness claims rate in the last 4 years. The best employers, as rated by the OPM, had the lowest claim rates and the poorest performers the highest. The proposed research builds the scientific evidence base for the OPM tool by answering methodological and practical questions raised in the pilot work by stakeholders.

Objectives:

To examine whether the OPM tool predicts future injury and illness rates.
To examine whether the OPM tool is responsive to changes in the organization.
To study how different modes of administration may affect responses (i.e., phone, in-person, over the internet, in meeting).
To examine what responders are thinking when they answer the eight questions.

Anticipated Results:

In addition to the HSAs, other groups who will be interested in the findings include WSIB, MOL, employer organizations, organized labour and researchers. The Institute’s KTE group will support dissemination by preparing plain language summaries and posting research highlights on the IWH website. KTE will write articles for the Institute’s quarterly newsletter, At Work, and knowledge users listed above will be encouraged to carry the results in their own newsletters as well as link to articles on the IWH website. KTE will pursue publications in trade media such as OHS Canada.

Investigators:

Benjamin C. Amick III, Lynda Robson, Sheilah Hogg-Johnson, Dwayne Van Eerd, Peter Smith (Institute for Work & Health, Monash University)