Dorothy Wigmore, Occupational Health Specialist, Worksafe

University of Massachusetts Lowell (M.S., 1997); Polytechnic of the South Bank, London, England (B.S., 1981); Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (B.A., 1972).

Dorothy brings with her over 30 years of experience working on a wide variety of health and safety issues and campaigns as an occupational hygienist, ergonomist, researcher, educator, writer, and editor. Her international educational background includes graduate studies in Work Environment at UMass Lowell, with an ergonomics concentration and specialization in work organization (M.S., 1997), and a degree in Occupational Hygiene (B.S., 1981). She has experience and training in Canada, England, Mozambique, and the U.S., integrating an international and “big picture” perspective with a focus on practical solutions.

Dorothy’s commitment to workers’ rights and promoting occupational health stems from encounters with Nova Scotia fishermen and her time as a journalist in the mining community of Sudbury, Ontario. Since then, she has worked in and around auto and meatpacking plants, construction sites, health care facilities, offices, schools, social services organizations, and other public sector workplaces.

A pioneer of popular body and workplace mapping tools, she also develops other visual tools for participatory/popular education and training. Many were used in the 2008 guide for joint health and safety committees, Seeing the Workplace with New Eyes, which was produced for the Manitoba Workers’ Compensation Board. She also has a long-time interest in participatory research, and edited a special issue of New Solutions about the topic.