Dr Joanne Crawford

Professor of Health and Safety
School of Health

• joanne.crawford@vuw.ac.nz
• EA, Easterfield Building, Gate 3, Kelburn Parade

Teaching

• HLWB 207 - 2025 Managing Workplace Risk, Health and Safety: Decision-making Amidst Ambiguity
  as Coordinator and Lecturer
  HLWB 508 - 2025 Human and Biological Factors in Workplace Health and Safety
  as Coordinator and Lecturer
  HLWB 510 - 2025 Principles of Occupational Health and Hygiene
  as Coordinator and Lecturer

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Edinburgh Napier, MSc (Eng) Birmingham, PhD Surrey

Profile

Joanne Crawford is the WorkSafe New Zealand Chair in Health and Safety at the School of Health. Prior to this she led the Ergonomics and Human Factors Section at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh. She was also previously a Senior Lecturer in Ergonomics at the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Birmingham University, where she was the director of the MSc in Occupational Health.

Joanne has published over a range of areas in ergonomics and health and safety and has worked with different occupational groups. She is currently on the editorial board for the Policy and Practice in Health and Safety journal. Professionally she is a Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist as well as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors.

Supervision interests

• Age and work, extending working lives
• Vulnerable workers
• Musculoskeletal disorders—prevention and management in different industries
• Ergonomics and a systems approach to designing work
• Health and Safety Knowledge and communication
• Rehabilitation and return to work
• New ways of working—digitalisation, gig economy
• Shift work, night work, and health and wellbeing

Research interest areas

• Knowledge management and knowledge transfer in health and safety
• Musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomic interventions
• Extending working lives
• The changing world of work

Recent projects

• Preventing Musculoskeletal disorders, review, qualitative research and policy initiatives (European Agency for Safety and Health Funded)
• Managing chronic MSDs and work (European Agency for Safety and Health Funded)
• Occupational health and safety needs for those returning to work after cancer (IOSH Funded)
• A review of the impact of shift work on occupational cancer (IOSH Funded)

Publications

Akrouf, Q.A., Crawford, J.O., Al-Shatti, A.S., Kamel, M.I., 2010, Musculoskeletal disorders among bank office workers in Kuwait. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 16, 1: 94-100

Cherrie, J.W., Crawford, J.O., Davis, A., Dixon, K., Alexander, C., Cowie, H. McElvenny, D., 2017, A review of the impact of shift-work on occupational cancer: Summary of the evidence for practitioners. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety doi.org/10.1080/14773996.2017.1404737

Crawford, J.O., Cherrie, J.W., Davis, A., Dixon, K., Alexander, C., Cowie, H., McElvenny, D., 2017, A review of the impact of shift work on occupational cancer: mechanistic and Health and Safety Evidence. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety. doi.org/10.1080/14773996.2017.1405575

Crawford, J.O., Davis, A., Walker, G.H., Cowie, H., Ritchie, P. 2016, Evaluation of knowledge transfer for occupational safety and health in an organisational context: development of an evaluation framework. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 14 (1), 7-21

Crawford, J.O., 2016, Older workers – workers’ health evidence-based practice? Occupational Medicine, 66, 424-425

Crawford, J.O., Dixon, K., Miller, B.G and Cherrie, J.W., 2014, A review of the effectiveness of respirators in reducing exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for coke oven workers. Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 58 (8), 943-954

Crawford, J.O. and Graveling R.A., 2012, Non-cancer occupational health risks in firefighters – In-depth review. Occupational Medicine, 62: 485-495

Crawford, J.O., MacCalman, L, and Jackson, C.A., 2011, The health and well-being of remote and mobile workers.  Occupational Medicine 61: 385-394

Crawford, J.O., Graveling, R.A., Cowie, H. and Dixon, K., 2010, The health safety and health promotion needs of older workers.  Occupational Medicine 60: 184-192

Doust, E., Ayres, J.G., Devereux, G., Dick, F., Crawford, J.O., Cowie, H., Dixon, K. 2014, Is pesticide exposure a cause of obstructive airway disease? European Respiratory Review, 23, 132, 180-192.

McElvenny, D.M., Crawford, J.O., Davis, A., Dixon, K., Alexander, C., Cowie, H. and Cherrie, J.W., 2017, A review of the impact of shift-work on occupational cancer: Epidemiological Research. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety. doi.org/10.1080/14773996.2017.1404263