Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn, Laurentian University President and Vice Chancellor Dominic Giroux and Laurentian University’s Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH) unveiled Canada’s first mobile laboratory for occupational safety and health research (Mobile-CROSH) today.
“With our investment of $500,200, Mobile-CROSH will allow researchers and university students to connect with geographically-isolated workers in northern Ontario communities. This will lead to even better prevention of occupational injuries and disease,” stated Labour Minister Kevin Flynn. “This is a ground-breaking approach to occupational health and safety research, and we are proud to be able to launch this initiative.”
Mobile-CROSH, (M-CROSH) is a custom designed vehicle, a 40-foot mobile lab which includes a clinic room, meeting area, and lab space; to support field research in mental health and quality of worklife, mobile equipment design for accident prevention, vibration-induced injury prevention, fatigue mitigation, heat stress prevention, sleep hygiene to improve sleep quality and quantity, and evaluation of intervention programs; to name a few.
M-CROSH will serve as a bridge to communities, often excluded from occupational health and safety research due to their northern geography. It will increase collaboration between research Centres, workers, industry, and health and safety agencies.
The research conducted by M-CROSH will be vital and the results will benefit workers throughout Canada. “This mobile lab will be a critical element to CROSH’s Field – to Lab – to Field research approach”, said Leo Gerard, International USW President and Chair of the CROSH Advisory Board. “By bringing the research lab to northern worksites, workers can play an active role in improving their own workplaces.”
CROSH Research Chair, Dr. Tammy Eger and Director, Dr. Sandra Dorman agree: “M-CROSH will change the way occupational health and safety research is conducted. It will connect workers to current best practices through CROSH collaborations with other research Centres and Safe Workplace Association partners”.
A number of communities across Northern Ontario will see M-CROSH roll into town as the inaugural Driving Prevention Through Research tour kicks off this fall.
About Laurentian University
Laurentian University offers an outstanding university experience in English and French, with a comprehensive approach to Indigenous education. Laurentian University, situated on the traditional territory of the Anishinabe peoples of Atikameksheng First Nation, prepares students as agents of change and empowers them to create innovative responses to local and global challenges. Laurentian’s students benefit from small class sizes and exceptional post-graduation employment rates. With nine Canada Research Chairs and eighteen research centres, Laurentian is a recognized leader in its specialized areas of research strength, which include mining innovation and exploration, stressed watershed systems, particle astrophysics, rural and northern children’s health, and occupational health and safety.