Encouraging the adoption of innovations:
Examining whether the intensity of knowledge transfer techniques has an influence over construction companies’ decisions to adopt innovations to reduce the risk of MSDs.

Collaborative Research: CSAO and CRE-MSD at the University of Waterloo

Research Team: Desre Kramer, Phil Bigelow, Enzo Garritano, Richard Wells, Peter Vi, Niki Carlan, Marek Plawinski and Jennifer Marshall.




Researchers from the Centre of Research Expertise in the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) and the Construction Safety Association (Ontario) have come together to research different ways of spreading innovations to prevent MSDs in the construction sector.

MSDs are a significant problem in construction. It is the single biggest cause of lost-time injuries.

Construction work is a physically demanding occupation. Injury rates, although decreasing at a steady rate for over 40 years, continue to remain at approximately 6.6 per 200,000 hours worked (WSIB data: 1996 – 2007). In addition to this, approximately 32% of all lost time injuries and 28% of all WSIB costs result from musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in this industry (WSIB data: 1996 – 2002). Because of this, a substantial amount of research and effort has gone into making the construction industry a safer one to work in.



The research team has identified sixteen new tools, processes and ideas that are being used. They have been evaluated and found to reduce the risk of MSDs in construction work. The innovations are primarily in the masonry, plumbing, home-builders, and electrical subsectors. We have found that these innovations not only reduce the risk of MSDs, but are also valued for their ability to improve productivity and quality.

We are hoping to raise awareness of MSDs in construction, and encourage construction companies to adopt some of these new ideas. We are using the very well established networks in the sector to spread awareness of the importance of MSDs, explore barriers to making changes, and to talk about the innovations.

We are finding companies that are interested in our research, and who may be interested in adopting some of the new tools and methods. We are hoping that this group of companies will lead the way in spreading the advantages of these innovations and persuade other companies to try them out.

We will be making a comparison between companies who have already used the new ideas, with those who are thinking of doing so, and those who decide to try an innovation after hearing about it.

If you are interested in trying out one of the innovations, please contact:

Niki Carlan, ncarlan@uwaterloo.ca
Peter Vi, pvi@ihsa.ca