Video: Occupational Patterns in Opioid-Related Harms Among Ontario Workers

Presented by Dr. Nancy Carnide, Institute for Work & Health, and Dr. Paul Demers, OCRC, on June 13, 2023, as part of the IWH Speaker Series.

About the presentation

Surveillance systems that monitor opioid-related harms in Canada do not typically collect work information. Limited data on opioid overdose deaths in Canada point to construction and trades workers as the worker groups most affected by the overdose crisis; but we know little else. Through a collaboration between the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) at Ontario Health and the Institute for Work & Health (IWH), a study team has expanded the Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) to include opioid-related harms. In this presentation, Dr. Nancy Carnide (IWH) and Dr. Paul Demers (OCRC) share findings that have emerged from this unique source of data on a large sample of formerly injured workers.

Presenters

Dr. Nancy Carnide is an associate scientist at the Institute for Work & Health. She conducts research at the intersection between occupational health and safety and substance use. Her program of research includes examining the use and non-medical use of prescription and recreational drugs among workers, their risk factors and the workplace consequences of their use, with a focus on cannabis and opioids.

Dr. Paul Demers is the director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, based at Ontario Health. He is also a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and a clinical professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, where he was formerly the director of the School of Environmental Health. He is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on the causes and prevention of a wide range of occupational diseases. He has extensive experience overseeing and conducting epidemiological and occupational health research.