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Privacy policies

The Opioid-Related Harms among Ontario Workers project is managed at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC). IWH and OCRC respect the privacy of the individuals who visit the project website and with whom we communicate, and we recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of all personal information. We take every precaution to ensure the privacy, accuracy and security of the personal information provided to us.

Research privacy and confidentiality

The data used in the Opioid-Related Harms among Ontario Workers project are held at the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) on a secure server and in a locked facility with access restricted to authorized personnel. OCRC is part of Ontario Health, a Health Information Custodian as defined under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), and conforms to all laws and privacy regulations. The data used for study analysis are anonymized by a record linkage specialist, after linkage. If you have any questions or concerns about the privacy and confidentiality of the data used in this project, please contact OCRC:  

Dr. Paul Demers 
Director, Occupational Cancer Research Centre  
ocrc@ontariohealth.ca 

Project results use aggregated data and will not contain information that can identify individuals. If you have any questions or concerns about the privacy and confidentiality of the project results in presentations or publications, please contact IWH: 

Dr. Monique Gignac
Scientific Director & IWH Privacy Officer
privacyofficer@iwh.on.ca

Ethics review

This study has been approved by the Health Sciences Research Ethics Board (HSREB), which is part of the University of Toronto’s Human Research Ethics Program (HREP). The study may be reviewed by the HSREB for quality assurance to make sure that the required laws and guidelines are followed. 

If you have questions about the ethical oversight of this project, you may contact:

Research Oversight and Compliance Office
Human Research Ethics Program
University of Toronto
Tel: (416) 946-3273
Email: ethics.review@utoronto.ca

If you contact the HREP, it may ask you which study protocol number you are calling about. Our current active protocol number is Protocol #39013.

Communications privacy policy

Collection and use of personal information

The IWH and OCRC collect personal contact information when website visitors sign up to get notifications about the project (e.g., to learn when a summary of project findings is posted on the website). The information is used to send out project notifications, as well as to inform people from time to time about related IWH and OCRC events and information that may be of interest to them. 

All contact information collected through this website is entered and stored on a secure server, which is maintained by an IWH administrator.  

Collection and use of website data

The Opioid-Related Harms and the Ontario Worker project website is maintained by the Institute for Work & Health (IWH). The Institute uses Google Analytics to monitor web traffic and collect usage statistics. Google Analytics collects the domain name locations of our visitors, as well as information on what is being downloaded from the site, the number of pages viewed, the length of their visit and where the visitors came from (e.g. referring sites). This information is presented in aggregate form for trend analysis and system administration. It does not contain anything that can identify users personally. Google’s privacy policy is available at: www.google.com/intl/en/privacy.

This website contains links to other external sites. The IWH and OCRC are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these external sites. Users are encouraged to read the privacy statements of each linked website. These websites may collect personally identifiable information. For more information on the IWH Communications Privacy Policy, please visit www.iwh.on.ca/privacy-policies/communications-privacy-policy.

For information on the OCRC Website Privacy Policy, please visit www.occupationalcancer.ca/terms-of-use.

If you have any concerns about the handling of private or confidential information regarding this project, please contact the IWH or Ontario Health Privacy Officers: 

Dr. Monique Gignac 
Scientific Director & IWH Privacy Officer 
privacyofficer@iwh.on.ca 

Ontario Health Chief Privacy Officer 
privacy@ontariohealth.ca 

Opioid-Related Harms among Ontario Workers is a collaboration between the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) at Ontario Health.

Behind the data used in this project are the individual stories of workers who have experienced opioid-related harms. We recognize that these workers’ stories are not reflected in the data, but we would like to acknowledge the pain and suffering of these workers, and their families, friends, colleagues, and others who support them.

This project and production of this website has been made possible through funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) (2021-HQ-000092). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.