LU appoints occupational health and safety research chair

Laurentian University announced Nov. 20 it is appointing Tammy Eger as research chair in occupational health and safety, effective Jan. 1, 2015.

Eger is an associate professor at Laurentian' School of Human Kinetics and is currently director of the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH).

As research chair, Eger will be responsible for research growth and development at CROSH. She will also work closely with other members of the CROSH team to further develop national and international collaborations in occupational health and safety research, training, and global best practices.

“Tammy has done an outstanding job of bringing attention and funding to this important area of research, which affects the lives of so many workers in our region and beyond,” said Laurentian's acting vice-president of research, Anne-Marie Mawhiney, in a press release.

Eger has received more than $2.8 million in research funding as a principal and co-investigator from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, and the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

She has attracted an additional $1.9 million in funding as director of CROSH. Eger is an invited member of the ISO standards committee concerned with human exposure to vibration, the Mining Legislative Review sub-committee on proximity detection, and a resource member to the hazards committee, and management of change committee of the Mining Health, Safety and Prevention Review.

“Our industrial history here in Sudbury and across Ontario, has made this area of research a matter of urgency,” said Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers' international president and chair of the CROSH advisory board, in a press release. “Dr. Eger’s appointment will provide the leadership needed to build upon successes and expand CROSH’s influence to respond to community needs identifying health and safety concerns and eliminating hazards and occupational disease from workplaces around the North.”

Key funders for the position of research chair in occupational health and safety include the Northern Ontario Heritage Funding Corporation, Vale, United Steelworkers, TECK, Domtar and Unifor.