Karen Lockhart

• University of British Columbia

Introduction This study examines the impacts of rigorously implemented infection control, public health and occupational health measures in protecting healthcare workers (HCWs), beyond vaccination. Methods We followed a cohort of 21,242 HCWs in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for 20 months from the time the pandemic started until rapid antigen...

Background Recognizing that access to safe and healthy working conditions is a human right, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for specific occupational safety and health (OSH) programs for health workers (HWs). The WHO health systems’ building blocks, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), highlight the importance of information a...

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted hurdles for healthcare delivery and personnel globally. Vaccination has been an important tool for preventing severe illness and death in healthcare workers (HCWs) as well as the public at large. However, vaccination has resulted in some HCWs requiring time off work post-vaccination to recover from adverse events....

Objectives To ascertain whether and how working as a partnership of two World Health Organization collaborating centres (WHOCCs), based respectively in the Global North and Global South, can add insights on “what works to protect healthcare workers (HCWs) during a pandemic, in what contexts, using what mechanism, to achieve what outcome”. Methods...

Introduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) play a critical role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, urban centres were hit hardest globally; rural areas gradually became more impacted. We compared COVID-19 infection and vaccine uptake in HCWs living in urban versus rural locations within, and between, two health regions in...

Objective: To investigate occupational and non-work-related risk factors of COVID-19 among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Vancouver Coastal Health, British Columbia, Canada, and to examine how HCWs described their experiences. Methods: Matched case-control study using data from online and phone questionnaires with optional open-ended questions com...

Purpose The large burden of silicosis and tuberculosis (TB) in the South African mining industry, coupled with an under-resourcing of the compensation agencies responsible for certifying occupational lung disease, have resulted in serious backlogs. This work aimed to measure the efficiency gains from triaging occupational lung disease claims using...

Purpose: Healthcare workers (HCWs) play a critical role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, urban centres were hit hardest globally; rural areas gradually became more impacted. We compared COVID-19 infection and vaccine uptake in HCWs living in urban versus rural locations within, and between, two health authorities in Br...

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and new variants such as Omicron emerge, we aimed to re-evaluate vaccine effectiveness as well as impacts of rigorously implemented infection control, public health and occupational health measures in protecting healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods: Following a cohort of 21,242 HCWs in Vancouver, British...

Objectives We aimed to investigate the contribution of occupational and non-work-related factors to the risk of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Vancouver Coastal Health, British Columbia, Canada. We also aimed to examine how HCWs described their experiences. Methods We conducted a matched case-control stu...

Background We evaluated measures to protect healthcare workers (HCWs) in Vancouver, Canada, where variants of concern (VOC) went from <1% VOC in February 2021 to >92% in mid-May. Canada has amongst the longest periods between vaccine doses worldwide, despite Vancouver having the highest P.1 variant rate outside Brazil. Methods With surveillance da...

Although Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being increasingly applied, considerable distrust about introducing "disruptive" technologies persists. Intrinsic and contextual factors influencing where and how such innovations are introduced therefore require careful scrutiny to ensure that health equity is promoted. To illustrate one such critical appro...

Background: We evaluated measures to protect healthcare workers (HCWs) in Vancouver, Canada, where variants of concern (VOC) went from <1% in February 2021 to >92% in mid-May. Canada has amongst the longest periods between vaccine doses worldwide, despite Vancouver having the highest P.1 variant rate outside Brazil. Methods: With surveillance data...

Background: Workers in the informal economy often incur exposure to well-documented occupational health hazards. Insufficient attention has been afforded to rigorously evaluating intervention programs to reduce the risks, especially in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Objectives: This systematic review, conducted as part of the Worl...

Healthcare workers (HCW) face the risk of occupational exposure to infectious diseases, especially in countries with high burdens of tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Disclosure of TB and/or HIV status is needed to ensure prompt action and treatment, and, in the case of TB, prevent transmission to co-workers and patients. Tr...

Introduction In 2013, British Columbia, Canada, instituted a Policy requiring healthcare workers (HCWs) to accept influenza vaccination or wear a mask at work throughout the influenza season. The Policy’s stated objectives (prevent influenza transmission to vulnerable patients; reduce influenza morbidity and mortality; and reduce worker absenteeism...

Health scholars have long been calling for a new approach to understanding and responding to public health challenges, recognizing the dynamic influence of social and ecological processes and the importance of respecting different ways of knowing. With daunting new challenges to collective health, we sought to ascertain how future generations of pu...

Academics from diverse disciplines are recognizing not only the procedural ethical issues involved in research, but also the complexity of everyday “micro” ethical issues that arise. While ethical guidelines are being developed for research in aboriginal populations and low-and-middle-income countries, multi-partnered research initiatives examining...

Health workers are at high risk of acquiring infectious diseases at work, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) with critical health human resource deficiencies and limited implementation of occupational health and infection control measures. Amidst increasing interest in international partnerships to address such issues, how best to...

Although non-specific low back pain (LBP) is known to be multifactorial, studies from across the globe have documented their higher prevalence in nurses. This systematic review was conducted to ascertain whether this much-documented association constitutes a causal relationship, and whether there is a discernible threshold of exposures associated w...

With increasing calls for global health research there is growing concern regarding the ethical challenges encountered by researchers from high-income countries (HICs) working in low or middle-income countries (LMICs). There is a dearth of literature on how to address these challenges in practice. In this article, we conduct a critical analysis of...

Background: Joint health and safety committees (JHSCs) are widely acknowledged as important to a healthy and safe work environment. However, it is also generally believed that having a JHSC is necessary but not sufficient; the JHSC must be effective. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken to find empirical studies regarding the effectivenes...

Abstract The health service sector has a vital role to play in delivering human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) prevention, treatment and care, yet evidence indicates that healthcare workers (HCWs) themselves lack adequate access to HIV and TB services. HCWs are also at increased risk from TB and other infectious diseases at work...

Background: Although information systems (IS) have been extensively applied in the health sector worldwide, few initiatives have addressed the health and safety of health workers, a group acknowledged to be at high risk of injury and illness, as well as in great shortage globally, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Methods: Adaptin...

Globalization has been accompanied by the rapid spread of infectious diseases, and further strain on working conditions for health workers globally. Post-SARS, Canadian occupational health and infection control researchers got together to study how to better protect health workers, and found that training was indeed perceived as key to a positive s...

In British Columbia (BC), Canada, all health care facilities must have a written staff policy on influenza immunization that includes notice that non-immunized staff can be excluded from work without pay during an influenza outbreak in the facility. In light of this policy, our objectives were to explore the views of BC health care workers (HCWs) r...

Few studies have audited the resources available to infection control (IC) and occupational health (OH) to promote safe work behaviour, whilst comparing audited findings with perceptions by healthcare workers (HCWs). We aimed to determine the IC and OH resources available and compare this with HCWs' perception of resources, following an outbreak of...

The purpose of this study was to assess determinants of healthcare worker (HCW) self-reported compliance with infection control procedures. A survey was conducted of HCWs in 16 healthcare facilities. A strong correlation was found between both environmental and organizational factors and self-reported compliance. No relationship was found with indi...

Workplace injuries cause considerable morbidity, requiring intervention programs with strong stakeholder support and effective interdisciplinary practitioner involvement. Such a program, called Prevention and Early Active Return-to-Work Safely (PEARS), decreased time loss and costs in a large Canadian hospital. However, it only attracted 39% of wor...