Mobile Research Labs
Enabling field-applied research in real operational context to ensure that findings and recommendations are grounded in actual work conditions.
Most work and health research lacks ecological validity. Conventional work and health research often rely on convenient samples, simulated tasks, or controlled environments that do not reflect the unpredictability, dynamism, and diversity of real jobs. Workplaces are frequently:
- Peripatetic, with constantly changing locations, especially in sectors such as construction
- Irregular, with variable scheduling and multi-task workflows
- Unstructured, with unpredictable environmental and physical conditions
- Highly dynamic, with rapid task switching and complex interactions
CISWP Mobile labs overcome these limitations by enabling field-applied research in real operational context, ensuring that findings and recommendations are grounded in actual work conditions. When paired with START and STRIDE lab validation, the Mobile Research Labs strengthen CISWP’s field-to-lab-to-field research approach, uniting ecological validity with scientific control and rigor.
What are the Mobile Research Labs?
CISWP’s Mobile Research Labs are fully equipped mobile research units designed to bring advanced data‑collection capabilities directly to worksites across Ontario. Each mobile lab houses a comprehensive suite of technologies for measuring exposure of workers to physical, cognitive, and work environmental factors. CISWP mobile labs are capable of measuring anthropometric characteristics, strengths, and other functional capabilities of workers, all in real working environments.
These units allow CISWP researchers to collect high‑resolution, ecologically valid data where work is actually performed. By meeting workers on their worksites, the Mobile Research Labs capture the complexity, variability, and demands of real occupational tasks that cannot be replicated in traditional lab settings.
What research is occurring in the Mobile Research Labs?
The Mobile Research Labs support CISWP’s flagship, first-of-its-kind programs, funded by WSIB: Database of Occupation-Specific Exposures (DOSE) and the Multivariate Occupation-Specific Anthropometric Database (MOSAIC), and Safe WorkSITE.
Where do the Mobile Research Labs go?
The Mobile Research Labs can travel anywhere within Ontario. Our CISWP Mobile Research Labs have a home base in Cambridge, Ontario.
Why are Mobile Research Labs Important?
Most work and health research lacks ecological validity. Conventional work and health research often rely on convenient samples, simulated tasks, or controlled environments that do not reflect the unpredictability, dynamism, and diversity of real jobs. Workplaces are frequently:
- Peripatetic, with constantly changing locations, especially in sectors such as construction
- Irregular, with variable scheduling and multi-task workflows
- Unstructured, with unpredictable environmental and physical conditions
- Highly dynamic, with rapid task switching and complex interactions
CISWP Mobile labs overcome these limitations by enabling field-applied research in real operational context, ensuring that findings and recommendations are grounded in actual work conditions. When paired with START and STRIDE lab validation, the Mobile Research Labs strengthen CISWP’s field-to-lab-to-field research approach, uniting ecological validity with scientific control and rigor.
What is the goal of using the Mobile Research Labs?
The Mobile Research Labs aim to support the real-world data collection and evidence generation for workplace safety, wellness, and performance. The mobile units enable CISWP to:
- Identify risk factors and exposure patterns
- Understand worker-environment and worker-task interactions
- Evaluate interventions, technologies, and tools
- Generate actionable recommendations tailored to specific industries and jobs
- Strengthen evidence-inform decision-making for employers, system partners, and policy makers
- Bring cutting-edge work and health applied research to doorsteps of businesses across Ontario including the ones in the remote and underserviced communities
Together, the Mobile Research Labs make CISWP’s research more representative, more precise, and more impactful, ensuring that workplace solutions are grounded in the realities of work.