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Research shaped by community priorities.
Across Turtle Island, 634 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities hold distinct knowledge, histories, working conditions, and community priorities. We work with Indigenous communities to better understand the workplace health and safety experiences of Indigenous workers through research built on relationship, consent, and respect.
Every community holds knowledge that matters.
We work with communities to gather knowledge that can support better understanding, stronger prevention, and safer workplaces. Research is not brought to a community as a finished process. It is shaped through conversation, agreement, and shared responsibility.
Research can help communities better understand workplace health and safety needs.
Occupational health and safety research helps communities identify risks, understand worker experiences, and create knowledge that can support future decisions. The goal is not research for its own sake. The goal is useful knowledge that returns to the community and supports action.
Stronger Safety Programs.
Research can help identify workplace risks, gaps, and prevention needs that may support stronger safety planning over time.
Better Understanding.
Community-based research can help uncover patterns, experiences, and needs that may not be visible through existing workplace systems.
Community-Specific Insight.
Every community is different. Research helps identify the unique conditions, priorities, and realities that shape worker health and safety in your community.
Greater Access to Funding
Research can provide the evidence and documentation needed to strengthen funding applications and support access to new resources for your community.
A clear process built around consent and community involvement.
Participation begins with conversation. NIRCOHS works with each community to understand whether research is a good fit, what questions matter, and how the process should move forward.
Initial Conversation
We begin with an introductory conversation to learn about your community, your priorities, and your interest in occupational health and safety research.
Community Priorities Identified
Together, we identify the workplace health and safety questions, concerns, or opportunities that matter most to the community.
Research Agreement
Before research begins, the process, responsibilities, consent, data protections, timelines, and expected outcomes are clearly defined.
Research Activities
Research activities are carried out with community involvement and respect for the agreed process. Information is gathered with care and protected throughout the project.
Results Returned
Findings are shared back with the community in clear and useful ways. The knowledge created remains connected to the community and can support future decisions and funding applications.
Indigenous knowledge belongs with Indigenous communities.
Our work follows research principles that protect community knowledge, uphold consent, and support Indigenous data sovereignty. It is guided by OCAP® principles, which recognize community rights to ownership, control, access, and possession of data.
These principles shape every stage of the research process, from early conversations to research agreements, data collection, analysis, and knowledge sharing. Communities must understand how information will be used, how it will be protected, and how findings will return to them.
Start a conversation with us.
Your community's priorities matter. Reach out to discuss how NIRCOHS can support your workplace health and safety research needs.
