The Canadian Institute for Safety, Wellness & Performance (CISWP) at Conestoga College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is pleased to receive $834,550 in funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Ontario Research Fund (OFR) to help find creative solutions to addressing workplace hazards and injuries in the skilled trades.
The funding will be directed to CISWP’s newest initiative, the Centre for Ontario’s Network of Skilled Trade Researchers, Unions, Contractors and Tradespeople (CONSTRUCT). CONSTRUCT facilitates collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders in the skilled trades to assess challenges and opportunities related to job conditions, workload and equipment, driving improvements in safety and performance across the industry.
“We are very excited for this significant investment in our CONSTRUCT initiative,” said Dr. Amin Yazdani, executive director of CISWP and CONSTRUCT co-lead. “It will allow us to collaborate with a wide range of partners to design and develop innovative solutions such as inclusively designed tools, equipment, assistive technologies and personal protective equipment (PPE).”
The CFI-enabled research infrastructure funding will assist CONSTRUCT in employing field measurement systems that can measure multiple dimensions of human performance and effects (physiological, biomechanical, cognitive and sensory) as well as various types of work exposure, demands and hazards (ergonomic, psychosocial, work environment). Using these measurements, the group can determine the risks associated with skilled trades work and how to mitigate those risks to create a more sustainable workforce.
“This infrastructure will allow us to conduct innovative and highly ecologically valid applied field research with actual workers as research study participants, within real work environments, and during real working tasks,” said Dr. Marcus Yung, CISWP’s director, Development & Operations and CONSTRUCT co-lead.
CONSTRUCT also seeks to improve job accessibility for underrepresented groups such as women, newcomers, Indigenous people and people with disabilities. For example, in the skilled trades, there is a lack of PPE designed specifically for women’s bodies, which can deter women from entering the field. CONSTRUCT uses state-of-the-art technology to gain a better understanding of musculoskeletal factors and human physiology to promote inclusive PPE design. “The CONSTRUCT initiative will bring together partners from across Ontario to work towards a safer and more inclusive skilled trades workforce,” said Nicki Islic, CISWP’s associate director of Strategic Initiatives and Stakeholder Engagement.
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CFI is a non-profit corporation that invests in research infrastructure at Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions. The ORF provides funding to research institutions to help cover costs associated with large-scale, transformative research projects of strategic value to Ontario. The funding will be specifically used to obtain state-of-the-art equipment needed to attract, train and inspire the next generation of innovators, and to build research collaborations with public, private and not-for-profit partners.
The Canadian Institute for Safety, Wellness & Performance works within the Conestoga Skilled Trades Campus, located in Cambridge, Ontario, conducting research in a variety of fields including skilled trades to determine how to address industry challenges related to safety and wellness, while optimizing workforce development. Through these collaborative efforts, CISWP’s research aims to support prolonging the healthy working life of skilled trades workers and reduce worker shortages to ensure the skilled trades sector continues to play a vital role in Ontario and Canada.
