Webinar - Mental and Physical Health of Remote Workers: Recommendations for Post-COVID-19 Office Work

In this webinar

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many office workers to continue working from home. To examine the prolonged impact of working from home on the physical and mental health of workers, an online survey was issued between March and May 2022. The analysis revealed that many workers still do not have an optimal workstation set up at home, and self-reported mental and physical health were worse during the pandemic than before.

This webinar will provide an overview of related results and recommendations to improve the health impacts of telework, with emphasis on MSD prevention. It will be of interest to employers and employees completing computer-based work from home or in a hybrid working arrangement.

About the presenters

Dr. Phil Bigelow is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo with a background in occupational epidemiology. His current research interests include: Interventions in occupational health; evaluation and measurement of health and safety management systems; risk assessment; musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace; interventions to improve the health of workers in high risk industries such as transportation and construction; and health and wellness of truck drivers.

In addition to his extensive research experience, Dr. Bigelow has managed occupational health and safety programs in a variety of industries and is a registered occupational hygienist. He has served on a number of advisory boards in the field of health and safety and has held leadership positions on the Threshold Limit Values Committee.

Kim Meszaros is a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist and the Ergonomics Research Coordinator at the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD). Kim’s main focus is maintaining and developing the MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario and collaborating with stakeholders to share and create MSD prevention resources for workplaces. She is also the Principal Ergonomist at Kinetic Kare and the National Student Committee Advisor for the Association of Canadian Ergonomists (ACE). Kim is passionate about increasing awareness on MSD prevention in the workplace and facilitating solutions to promote employee health, safety and wellness.

Webinar resources

Webinar recording (Webex)
Password (case sensitive): Office2022

Webinar slide presentation (PDF)

For assistance, please contact Betina Butler at bbutler@uwaterloo.ca.

Disclaimer: CRE-MSD receives funding through a grant provided by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The views expressed are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre nor of the Province of Ontario.