Workplace Traumatic Exposure Team

One of the most serious effects of occupational stress is mental illness — a prominent health issue in terms of both financial and human costs. It is estimated that mental injury claims are approximately 50 per cent more costly than physical injury claims, since workers with a mental injury are typically absent from work longer than those with a physical injury. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorder are the most significant mental injuries originating in the workplace. The majority of workers will encounter an emotionally traumatic work event at some point in their career. Despite the negative implications for the worker and for society, workplace traumatic exposure has not yet been extensively studied in BC. This award supports the development of a team consisting of researchers at UNBC and UBC who are working to pool their individual expertise in workplace traumatic exposure. The team will develop their research around description/understanding, prevention, remediation and policy/knowledge translation.