Thank you to all the study participants, their employers, the study funders, and supporters

The work photos on this website were all taken during the exposure measurement phase of this study, and illustrate the diversity of work sites and tasks in the five study industries in British Columbia. We thank the study participants for agreeing to have their photos presented here.

The following people have been involved as staff or consultants of the study and have provided invaluable support in logistics, field measurements, design of operating procedures, lab facilities, and signal processing: Winnie Chu; James Cooper; Kevin Hong; Tracy Kirkham; Melissa Knott; Nancy Luong; Jim Morrison; and Geoff Wright. We couldn't have done the study without them.

The following organizations are providing funding or in kind support for the UBC Back Study:

• The Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia Research Secretariat
• The Bridge Program, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
• The UBC Centre for Health and Environment Research, funded by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
• The School of Environmental Health at the University of British Columbia
• The School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia
• The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington

The following individuals wrote letters of support for the UBC Back Study:

• John Ottery, Chair, FIHRP Advisory Committee, Pulp and Paper Employee Relations Forum
• Jim Parker, Les Veale, and Norm Prevost, I.W.A. Canada,
• Dave Coles, Vice-President, Western Region, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada
• Ken Jupe, Occupational Health and Safety Officer, Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada National Office

 

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Back Fact

In 2005 there were 14,380 accepted workers’ compensation claims for back strain in BC, representing 23.1% of all accepted short- and long-term disability claims.

There has been relatively little variation in back claims over the last 10 years; though there has been a slight downward trend in the most recent 3 years.