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2010 Competitions – Focus on Tomorrow
Nineteen grants were awarded as part of WorkSafeBC's Focus on Tomorrow research program, an annual competition designed to fund independent, scientific studies on issues that are relevant to workers, employers, and WorkSafeBC. Included are smaller, “shop-floor” projects aimed at transferring new knowledge into action or addressing specific occupational hazards.
The 2010 competition produced some excellent projects that target a range of issues of importance and relevance to WorkSafeBC and its stakeholders. Of special note is the number of projects that emphasize the importance of knowledge transfer and exchange efforts. In addition to the emphasis on knowledge dissemination, the projects address other research priorities including: Prevention of occupational exposures, reduction of high risk injuries, return-to-work strategies, investigation into emerging diseases, and measurement of safety culture or other leading indicators of safety.
Five of this year's projects will be jointly funded by WorkSafeBC, Alberta Employment and Immigration, and the Workers' Compensation Boards of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. This partnership is intended to provide a greater pool of funds for potential research projects and encourage studies that will have broader impact on workplaces across Canada.
We would like to thank all who participated in our 2010 competition - including the numerous scientific experts who reviewed the proposals, WorkSafeBC reviewers, the members of our 2010 Advisory Committee, and all who submitted grant proposals.
Ed McCloskey
Director, Research Secretariat
Policy and Research Division
Operating grants approved May 2010
Ten proposals were approved for funding. In total, 18 proposals were submitted by the closing date.
| Principal investigator | Title of project | Institution |
|---|---|---|
Delia Roberts |
An Investigation into the Etiology of Injuries in Ski-area Employees: Do Proprioceptive Deficits of the Spine and Peripheral Joints or Poor Blood Glucose Management affect Musculoskeletal and Fall and Struck-by/against Injuries? |
Selkirk College |
Melanie Rock |
"What was he thinking?": Cultural Factors in Manual Tree Felling Safety |
University of Calgary |
Tim Takaro |
Assessment of Beryllium Disease Risk in Pre-selected BC Industries |
Simon Fraser University |
Kevin Lyons |
Can Attributes Indentified at the Harvest Planning Stage be used to Predict the Frequency of Close Calls and Severe Injuries when Manually Falling Trees? |
University of British Columbia |
Hugh Davies |
Capacity Development for a Canadian Workplace Exposure Database |
University of British Columbia |
George Astrakianakis |
Development of an Integrated Risk Assessment and Risk Management Tool for Health Care in BC. Phase 1 - Assessment of Chemical Exposure Hazards Encountered by Health Care |
University of British Columbia |
J. Don Read |
Investigating Industrial Investigators: |
Simon Fraser University |
Helene Bertrand |
Prolotherapy in the Treatment of Supraspinatus Tendinopathy |
University of British Columbia |
Annalee Yassi |
Systematic Review of Joint Health and Safety Committees: the Compliance and Effectiveness of JHSC |
University of British Columbia |
Mieke Koehoorn |
Workplace Fatal and Serious Injuries in British Columbia: Comparison of Case Ascertainment across Data Sources |
University of British Columbia |
Development grants approved May 2010
Five proposals were approved for funding. In total, 10 proposals were submitted by the closing date.
| Principal investigator | Title of project | Institution |
|---|---|---|
Mark Fleming |
Assessing Employee Safety Motivation |
Saint Mary's University |
Nicola Cherry |
Females Welding and the Unborn Child |
University of Alberta |
Anne-Marie Nicol |
H1N1, Perceived Risk and Decisions across Healthcare Occupations |
University of British Columbia |
John Kozey |
Integrated Knowledge Transfer: A Critical Component in the Development of a Relevant Multidisciplinary Protocol to Study the Effects of Work Duration on Recovery of Low Back Injury |
Dalhousie University |
Bob Barnetson |
The Relationship between Workplace Safety Culture, Safety Behaviour and Injury Claims |
Athabasca University |
Innovation grants approved May 2010
Four proposals were approved for funding. In total, 15 proposals were submitted by the closing date.
| Principal applicant | Title of project | Institution |
|---|---|---|
Dwayne Van Eerd |
Dissemination and Uptake of a Participatory Ergonomics Guide for Workplaces in British Columbia |
Institute for Work & Health |
Rick Hall |
Ergonomic Syringe Adapter |
Vancouver Coastal Health (PHSA) |
Steven Threadkell |
FIT - Fishboat Inclinometer Testing |
PortShip Consulting Inc. |
Marc White |
Health and Work Productivity Web-Portal: Knowledge to action for disability prevention and management - A Pilot Study |
University of British Columbia |