Studies in Occupational Health and Safety
SPR has conducted a number of projects in occupational health and safety over the past 20 years, with the most important of these focused on labour-management cooperation, training and certification programs, and meeting of occupational health and safety needs. Selected projects include:

  • Evaluation of Part II of the Canada Labour Code. This project was a component of a larger evaluation of the Canada Labour Code conducted in 1996-99. The research examined the case for, and approaches to, evaluation of occupational health and safety in federally-regulated industries and the federal public service (for Human Resources Development Canada, 1997-98);

  • Evaluation of Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSCs) in Ontario. This study involved surveys of worker/management co-chairs of JHSCs in over 3,000 Ontario workplaces. A major report was produced comparing the status of internal governance of occupational health and safety in 1994-96 to baseline data from SPR’s 1984-86 surveys of JHSCs (for the Ontario Workplace Health and Safety Agency, 1993-96);

  • Review of Occupational Health and Safety Training in Ontario. This study examined key program dynamics and future directions for Ontario's twelve health and safety program delivery organizations -- a program which had a budget of over $55 million in 1991. The review examined input resources, efficiency, staff capabilities and goal achievement relative to goals of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Sub-studies examined factors such as staff satisfaction and resources, organizational capacity, detailed features of some 500 training programs, and impacts. Related research continued over a five-year period. The review aided the development of Canada's largest training program in Occupational Health and Safety (over 150,000 workers and managers trained since 1994) (for the Ontario Workplace Health and Safety Agency and the Ontario Ministry of Labour, 1991-96);

  • Certification Training Participants Evaluation. This study examined instructor and trainee assessments of an occupational health and safety training program. Surveys were conducted with up to 100 trainers and 500 trainees to assess aspects of course satisfaction, training delivery, expected usefulness and recommendations for improvement in the training (for the Ontario Workplace Health and Safety Agency, 1994);

  • Management Review of the Workplace Health and Safety Agency. As part of the requirements of the 1990 Occupational Health and Safety Act, a review of operations of the Agency was required in 1994-95. Analysis of historic Agency and other Ontario (pre-1990) training output indicators indicated that under the Agency, significant gains in cost-effectiveness in occupational health and safety training occurred (for the Ontario Workplace Health and Safety Agency and the Ministry of Labour, 1994);

  • Research Grants/Funding in Occupational Health and Safety. This project examined international experience (United States, United Kingdom), and reviewed a ten-year record in Ontario research and educational grants (for the Ontario Workplace Health and Safety Agency, 1992);

  • Operational Review of Occupational Health and Safety in Ontario. This study examined twelve organizations mandated to deliver occupational health and safety training programs to Ontario industry and led to the streamlining of this system (for the Ontario Workplace Health and Safety Agency, 1991);

  • Evaluation of the International Safety Rating System (ISRS). This study examined general managers' satisfaction and their perception of impacts of this safety audit program (on corporate management, operations, material loss, injuries and health) for over 200 Ontario corporations (for the Industrial Accident Prevention Association, 1990);

  • Evaluation of the C-I-L (ICI) Group of Businesses' Occupational Health Program. This study surveyed plant managers, union officers, health staff and employees in twelve major C-I-L locations across Canada, to examine program impact, management's role, and integration of services (for the Public Affairs and Human Resources Group of C-I-L, 1986).