July 19, 2024 – The Canadian Institute for Safety, Wellness & Performance (CISWP) at Conestoga College is receiving $834,550 in funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Ontario Research Fund to help find “creative solutions to addressing workplace hazards and injuries in the skilled trades”.

The funding will be directed toward CISWP’s “CONSTRUCT” initiative (Centre for Ontario’s Network of Skilled Trade Researchers, Unions, Contractors and Tradespeople).

“We are very excited for this significant investment in our CONSTRUCT initiative,” said Dr. Amin Yazdani, 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.”

The funding will help CONSTRUCT employ field measurement systems that can measure multiple dimensions of human performance and effects (e.g. physiological, biomechanical, cognitive) as well as various types of work exposure, demands and hazards (e.g. ergonomic, psychosocial, work environment).

Using these measurements, the group can determine the risks associated with skilled trades work, and how to mitigate them.

“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,” added Dr. Marcus Yung, co-lead.

The CISWP initiative also seeks to improve job accessibility for underrepresented groups such as women and people living with disabilities. For example, a lack of PPE designed specifically for women’s bodies. CONSTRUCT will use technology to gain a better understanding of musculoskeletal factors and human physiology to promote inclusive PPE design.

The Canadian Foundation for Innovation is a non-profit corporation that invests in research infrastructure at Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions. The Ontario Research Fund provides funding to research institutions to help cover costs associated with large-scale, transformative research projects of strategic value to Ontario.

The Canadian Institute for Safety, Wellness & Performance works within the Conestoga Skilled Trades Campus (Cambridge, Ont.), 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.