Dr. Katie Goggins (Keynote Speaker)
For the keynote address at CROSHCon, Dr. Goggins gave an overview of 1) How your workplace can benefit from working with a CROSH student; 2) The different ways your workplace can work with a CROSH student through internships, projects, employment, and more; and 3) How your organization can work with CROSH through Applied Collaborative Research and other CROSH Services.
Amy Doan
Medical Device User Interfaces: A Hidden Burden
Nurses interacting with sophisticated medical device user interfaces efficiently, let alone safely and correctly, has become increasingly challenging and precarious. Unintuitive interactions and complex user interface designs can jeopardize a nurse’s safety and efficiency and lead to avoidable outcomes. Medical device user interface design in highlighted as a hidden burden affecting nurse performance.
George Flagler
Harness Suspension: A Working at Heights Organizational Analysis
Presented by George Flagler, this presentation gives an overview of an analysis of the current Working at Heights (WAH) training programs in Ontario, and the knowledge transfer to workers on the topic of suspension trauma. How to manage and treat a worker falling from heights into harness is of much debate and there has been no consensus to date on the clear definition, treatment, and management of suspension trauma in the industrial sector. This presentation will review research that was conducted in 2020 by CROSH exploring this topic with clear recommendations for WAH training providers and Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development on language as well as treatment and management.
Emily Tetzlaff
Big Data Mining, in the Mining Industry
With the advancement of technology and on-site, real-time reporting systems, companies are capturing and retaining more and more data every day – but what results is a huge bank of unstructured data. Using big data mining techniques, Emily tackled 7-years of data from the Torex Gold Resources Inc. Incident database to identify high and low severity events that can be used to improve their safety systems for the future. Mirroring the actual mining life cycle, Emily will highlight the stages of exploration, design and planning, construction, production, and closure that she followed to extract and retrieve this valuable information.
Caroline Dignard
Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Mining
Caroline’s presentation provides a brief overview of her thesis research. After outlining the approach she and her team members employed to assess the mental health and wellbeing of mining workers, she discusses trends relating to stress, anxiety, and depression in this workforce, including how many workers are affected and the various factors that impact workers’ wellbeing.
Nazanin Gholami
Reporting on Different Tools and Measurements Used to Detect Heat Strain in Wildland Firefighting
Heat stress is a physical hazard, and it annually affects many workers including Wildland Firefighters. Given the recent climate changes and the physically demanding nature of the work for Wildland Firefighters, managing heat stress is vital. Therefore, CROSH is providing the tools and research platform for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry – Aviation Forest Fires and Emergency Services branch to protect the health of Wildland Firefighters in Northern Ontario against heat stress. In her talk, Nazanin will discuss how CROSH is going about this.
Josée Cormier
Developing Modern OHS Training Materials: A NORCAT Internship
In her presentation, Josée gives an overview of what she accomplished during her internship with NORCAT. Highlights of her internship experience include: building a training course on shotcreting, creating outlines for an introduction to mining course, and assisting in reviewing a fire plan for a new building at NORCAT’s training centre.
Dr. Oghenefego Akpomi-Eferakeya
Prevention of workplace violence among nurses in Northeastern Ontario
Workplace violence (WPV) is an ongoing problem in healthcare. In 2018, Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board reported 13% of lost time injuries because of WPV. Northeastern Ontario nurses experience physical violence 8% more than the entire province. Violence is rising within healthcare and if not addressed properly, healthcare delivery services like nursing care could be affected. The results of this study could inform decision makers to create policies that could potentially reduce violence against nurses working in Northern Ontario acute care settings and reduce costs to the healthcare system. Dr. Akpomi-Eferakeya’s presentation will review available literature and provide an overview of her research methods.
Wesley Young
Partnering with CROSH: Developing OHS Solutions Through Collaborative Applied Research
In his presentation, Wesley gives an overview of some of the industry partners CROSH has worked with, and he guides us through how various kinds of projects can be formulated.
Curtis Hancock
Cool the core: How being cold during and after exercise affects your body on the cellular level
Various diseases have been linked to low levels of mitochondria. The risk of these diseases can be reduced by increasing mitochondrial content by body cooling after exercise. The purpose of this research is to determine if cooling before exercise can lead to similar increases in mitochondria as post exercise cooling.
Kelsey Lefebvre
Occupational health and safety on the front lines of healthcare
In her presentation, Kelsey gives an overview of her internship at Health Sciences North, including her work as an occupational health and safety nurse and her involvement in health promotion, the influenza campaign, and in workplace violence and prevention.
Rebecca Bond
Exploring historical accident data is critical to better protecting ourselves moving forward (3MT)
Rebecca highlights the need for OHS groups to be aware of accident and injury data and trends. She specifically relates the findings from the mineral exploration field; however, such data is pertinent to any workplace that has the potential of putting workers at risk.
Samuel Daoust
Could exercise in the cold be less beneficial compared to working out when warm for insulin sensitivity? (3MT)
Both exercise and cold exposure have independently been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. However, mechanisms by which cold exposure and exercise may improve insulin sensitivity seem to slightly contradict. This study will examine how exercising in both cold and warm conditions affect insulin sensitivity.
Sara Gauthier
Accuracy of Workplace COVID-19 Screening Protocols (3MT)
Many employers have incorporated daily temperature checks on all employees as a way to reduce the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks. However, the screening process may occur just minutes after employees leave frigid outdoor conditions of -30°C or below. Sara’s talk explores the effects of these harsh environmental conditions on the accuracy of temperature readings from different types of thermometers (i.e. contact, non-contact, laser, infrared).
Jared Whitney
An Analysis of Return to Sport Protocols During the COVID-19 Pandemic (3MT)
A look at the protocols put in place by sport organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic by assessing the risk involved and risk mitigation efforts used. This analysis will help determine the effectiveness of certain protocols that can be used in workplace settings.
Rachelle Barrette
Can computer screen design save your life? (3MT)
Today’s technological devices contain many overwhelming features; they are continually updated with additional tools and settings, adding to the confusion and frustration. Rachelle’s talk will explore: How do these changes affect the user in the workplace? What happens in a healthcare setting when those users are nurses with patients lives in their care? How can we optimize these changes to mitigate health and safety risks?