The Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) is hosting a webinar series, Activating Knowledge for Workplace Mental Health, marking May Day, which is International Workers’ Day.
MAYDAY, MAYDAY! is an internationally recognized cry for help, and Mayday itself celebrates the contribution of workers the world over, both of which apply to the critically important subject of Workplace Mental Health, especially as we all strive to cope with the impact of the recent global pandemic.
Session One
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 — 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET
Marking International Workers’ Day + important anniversaries; Sharing history, research & practice; Finding effective, sustainable solutions
May Day is celebrated as Labour Day around the world, and it was also the 1989 start date of OHCOW’s first Occupational Hygienist, John Oudyk. This year we’ll celebrate OHCOW (and John’s) 35th anniversary through the cross-sectional lens of Knowledge Activism and Workplace Mental Health and Injury Prevention, which we continue to champion.
Making a Difference: Knowledge Activism on a Community Scale
Learn about past and recent contributions of the United Steelworkers union – all pivotal steps of worker knowledge mobilizing prevention progress, beginning with the Elliott Lake Wildcat strike 50 years ago, OHCOW’s origins in the 80s, translating the Westray Mine Explosion into the Criminal Code in 2004 and facing the mental health and gender-based violence challenges we now recognize in workplaces today.
Speakers: Sylvia Boyce, United Steelworkers Canadian National Office, Health, Safety & Environment Department Leader
Knowledge Activism Research and Implications for Workplace Mental Health
Review important research on worker activist engagement and success and consider the implications in the context of worker (and activist) mental health.
Dr. Alan Hall, Honorary Research Professor, Memorial University
Research into Practice: Applied Knowledge Activism and Tool Development
2024 is also the 15th anniversary of the Mental Injury Tool Group, which pioneered the recognition of stress and other harm-inducing factors as occupational hazards warranting assessment and elimination/control, developing an entire toolkit and fostering knowledge activation with its core element, a validated survey built on the Copenhagen psycho-social Questionnaire.
The MIT/StressAssess story is essentially a case study in applied knowledge activism in the form of tool development which has been a common thread of OHCOW’s practice under John’s leadership.
Speaker: John Oudyk, MSc, CIH, ROH, Occupational Hygienist, OHCOW
Click here to register for the May 1 webinar
Session two
International COPSOQ Survey Network Research Stories
May 8, 2024 —10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET
Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire users share valuable insights and experience in identifying workplace stress factors around the world == Offering insights of interest to all those striving to improve health and well-being in their research or practice.
Session three
Activating Knowledge: WMH Research Initiatives
May 15, 2024 —10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET
Click here to find out more about and register for sessions two and three.
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