WorkSafeBC accepting applications for research grants to improve OHS

WorkSafeBC is accepting applications for research grants to improve workplace health and safety.

There are two streams available: Applied Innovation and Proof of Principle and Prototyping. The competitions are now open.

Applied Innovation

The Applied Innovation (formerly known as Innovation at Work) grants support research projects that solve workplace problems and include projects that develop or apply knowledge and insights to address workplace health and safety issues and/or engage in knowledge transfer and exchange activities, it said.

“An Applied Innovation project may seek to understand why and how things occur, evaluate interventions that seek to achieve positive change, or apply evidence directly to the workplace,” it said. “For example, worker training evaluations, development of interventions to support return-to-work, or examining sex and gender.”

The grants run up to $50,000 for a duration of 12 months.

Proof of Principle and Prototyping

Proof of Principle and Prototyping is a funding stream within Applied Innovation dedicated to research that may lead to novel tools, products, and technology that can be implemented in the workplace to improve health and safety for a broad audience of workers, employers, and workplaces, according to WorkSafeBC.

These grants enable researchers to advance novel inventions forward, towards solutions that would make real improvements for workers, employers, and WorkSafeBC.

Ideal projects are not so advanced that the tool or technology is ready for commercialization, it said.

The grants up to $100,000 for a duration of 24 months.

Important deadlines

The competition is now open and the deadline to submit a letter of intent is Jan. 13, 2023, at 4 p.m. PST.

For full information, visit https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/research-services/funding-streams/applied-innovation