Twenty organizations received funding in 2015-16 for projects and programs to help improve occupational health and safety (OHS) awareness and education.
Alberta Labour’s Innovation and Engagement Grants program is open to not-for-profit organizations. Approximately $500,000 is given out in grants each fiscal year.
Innovation and Engagement Grants
Three levels of funding grants are available:
- Capacity Building grants, up to $10,000
- Action grants, up to $20,000
- Momentum grants, up to $50,000
In 2015-16, four Capacity Building, 10 Action and six Momentum grants were awarded.
2015-16 grants will help pay for projects including:
- theatre productions to educate students on workplace safety
- an online course on occupational therapy specific to workplace violence
- safety conferences and seminars put on by a variety of organizations.
“The Alberta government is happy to support organizations across the province to improve awareness of workplace health and safety. We are proud to fund research to make workplaces safer.”
Funding is also available for OHS research
OHS Futures provides money for research into workplace hazards to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses and diseases. Approximately $1 million is given out each year through the program.
2015 Competition Results – OHS Futures Funded Research Projects
- It’s Your Move: Evaluating Improvements to Client Handling Practices in Alberta, Dr. Siegrid Deutschlander, Alberta Health ServicesThis project evaluates the “It’s Your Move” program, an Alberta Health Services program aiming to reduce musculoskeletal disorders among healthcare workers in Alberta. 27,000 healthcare workers at over 100 long-term and acute-care facilities were trained under the program and the results must now be evaluated. Dr. Deutschlander’s research project examines the specific conditions at 10 acute care sites to better understand the barriers to and opportunities for success. In addition, Dr. Deutschlander and her team will analyze the cost benefits of the program as a whole, and develop a metrics template for future assessment of the program impacts.
- Exposure to welding fume and the effect on the human respiratory microbiome, Dr. Anil Adisesh, Dalhousie UniversityWelders in Alberta and elsewhere are three times more likely to be hospitalized with pneumonia, and the reasons for this are not fully understood. It is thought that welding fumes and existing respiratory bacteria likely have a role in the development of pneumonia in welders. Dr. Adisesh’s research will compare the respiratory bacteria and the welding particles of welders in Alberta with long-haul truck drivers, matching by sex, age and smoking status. Statistics gathered over fifty years have shown that the death rate from pneumonia has doubled amongst welders. This study creates opportunities for potential risk screening, biological effect monitoring and for therapeutic approaches. Such findings would also allow the relationship with welding fume exposure to be investigated in the future to improve control measures.
- Flour exposure, senstization and respiratory health among Alberta bakers, Dr. Jeremy Beach, University of AlbertaThis research seeks to identify the prevalence and incidence of sensitization and respiratory health effects of workplace exposures among bakery workers in Alberta. The research project aims to conduct a survey of workers to determine the prevalence of health problems related to flour and to establish a group of workers entering the industry (apprentices) who can be followed to determine the incidence of new respiratory health problems among Alberta bakers. The information collected in Dr. Beach’s research projects may assist in determining ways of minimizing the risk of work-related sensitization and adverse respiratory health effects in bakers.
- Occupational interventions for the prevention of back pain – overview of systematic reviews and demonstration of a knowledge-translation application, Dr. Sebastian Straube, University of AlbertaBack pain is one of the most common health problems – some 80 per cent of people experience it at some point in their lives. Back pain can be caused by work or be made worse by work. Work-related back pain can result in workplace injuries, workers’ compensation claims, as well as, decreased worker attendance and productivity in the workplace. Employers have a duty to assess and control the risks in the workplace, including the ergonomic risks that lead to back pain. Workplace-related interventions, such as lifting advice, lifting aids, exercises, or back schools may be of benefit in preventing back pain. Dr. Straube’s research proposes to produce an overview of systematic reviews to bring together and assess all the available evidence and derive recommendations for practice.
- Epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries and their association with physical fitness among police officers in Edmonton, AB, Dr. Don Voaklander, University of AlbertaPolice officers commonly face situations that put them at higher risk for injury. Although musculoskeletal injuries are frequently suffered by police officers, only scarce research has documented the occurrence of this type of injuries in this population. An association between low occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries and high levels of physical fitness has been suggested in police officers; however, further analysis of this association is needed to draw conclusive results. Using administrative databases from Edmonton Police Services (EPS), the goal of this research is to expand the current knowledge of the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries among police officers, and to explore the association between occurrence of injuries and level of physical fitness in this group. The results of this project may help identify whether physical fitness influences the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries among police officers, and could highlight the potential benefits of training and exercise programs to prevent and/or decrease the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries among members of the EPS.
- Metabolomics of welding fume exposure: a novel biomarker approach for monitoring health in welders, Dr. Paige Lacy, University of AlbertaExposure of welders to welding fumes is a recognized occupational hazard, particularly in enclosed spaces or areas that are poorly ventilated. Some welders develop respiratory problems that may progress into serious disease conditions. At present there are no monitoring strategies for evaluating the exposure of welders to toxic levels of welding fumes. Dr. Lacy’s proposed research aims to generate a new approach to monitoring the exposure of welders to toxic welding fumes. This approach uses a new technique called metabolomics, where metabolites can be determined in urine samples of welders. Metabolomics provides a “snapshot” of the health profile of welders and can generate biomarkers that indicate a potential disease. This approach could provide indications of excessive exposure to welding fumes, and potentially biomarkers of disease.
- WHAT-ME/WHAT-MEN (Women’s Health in Apprenticeship Trades – Metal Working and Electrical / Workers’ Health in Alberta Trades – Men) (Renewal Application), Dr. Nichola Cherry, University of AlbertaThe WHAT-ME and WHAT-MEN projects recruit Canadians who have registered in apprenticeships with training in welding (welder, pipefitter, steamfitter, boilermaker), electrical trades or metal working. For women, the WHAT-ME study was established to examine the effects on women’s health and fertility, as well as the health of the fetus as it related to exposures in these trades. The WHAT-MEN project provides information on health and welding exposures in men who have undertaken registered apprenticeships in Alberta. Information from the two studies will allow for the examination of the relationship between work tasks, exposures and new onset of ill-health in men and women in the welding trades and to identify aspects of work in welding that may be hazardous to men, women and/or the unborn child.