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Aida Haghighi

Aida Haghighi

Assistant Professor
EducationBSc, MSc, PhD, PEng
OfficeDCC-316, Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex
Phone416-979-5000 ext. 557362
Areas of ExpertiseOccupational health and safety (OHS) management; Industrial safety; OHS performance evaluation (e.g. audit); Industry 4.0 and OHS; OHS risk management.

Dr. Haghighi is available to supervise Occupational and Public Health (MSc) students in 2024-2025.

I joined the School of Occupational and Public Health at Toronto Metropolitan University in July, 2021. I am an industrial engineer with both academic and industrial experience.

I hold a PhD from Polytechnique Montreal and obtained my master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Iran. All three are in industrial engineering. I conducted my doctorate program in the field of occupational health and safety (OHS), with a focus on bypassing safeguards on machinery as a common OHS problem in industry. In parallel with my doctoral studies, I had an opportunity to collaborate with a team of researchers from various fields who were working at Polytechnique Montreal and IRSST on a new research project about the impacts of Industry 4.0 on occupational safety.

In addition to my academic background, I have nine years of experience at National Gas Company as a senior systems analysis specialist and then advanced to be head of the Systems Analysis Department. I have worked on implementing, auditing and maintaining integrated management systems, including an OHS management system (OHSAS 18001), a quality management system (ISO 9001) and an environmental management system (ISO 14001). I audited OHS and process performance as a certified internal auditor/lead auditor along with the audit team.

My passion is conducting and collaborating in knowledge-sharing activities and research studies in the fields of my specialization, which generally speaking, include industrial safety, OHS management systems and audit, OHS risk management and continual improvement. 

Research interests:

  • Industrial safety
  • OHS management system (e.g., ISO 45001) and audit
  • Industry 4.0 and OHS
  • OHS risk management
  • Continual improvement and productivity
  • Integrated management systems in organizations (integrating OHS issues with business processes (operational/supporting/management processes))

Research projects:  

  • Understanding and preventing the bypassing of safeguards on machinery through an assessment tool based on probability levels (Doctorate), École Polytechnique de Montréal, Québec, Canada, (2016-2020).

Selected articles and conference papers:

Journal articles:

  • Haghighi, A., Jocelyn, S., & Chinniah, Y. (2020). Testing and Improving an ISO 14119-Inspired Tool to Prevent Bypassing Safeguards on Industrial Machines. Safety, 6(3), 42.
  • Haghighi, A., Jocelyn, S., & Chinniah, Y. (2019). A holistic assessment tool to estimate the probability of bypassing safeguards on machinery. Safety science, 120, 561-574.
  • Haghighi, A., Chinniah, Y., & Jocelyn, S. (2019). Literature review on the incentives and solutions for the bypassing of guards and protective devices on machinery. Safety Science, 111,188-204.

Conferences:

  • Haghighi, A., Jocelyn, S., & Chinniah, Y. (2021). An overview of a new tool for estimating the probability of bypassing guards and protective devices on industrial machinery. XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, Toronto, Canada.
  • Haghighi, A., Jocelyn, S., & Chinniah, Y. (2019). Prerequisites for developing a machine safety bypassing-related assessment tool. 13 th  International Conference on Industrial engineering and QUALITA Conference (CIGI QUALITA Conference 2019), Montreal, Canada.
  • Thesis recognized as “the best doctoral thesis 2020" of the industrial engineering program at Polytechnique Montreal, 2020
  • Scholarship awarded for a research study abroad (during PhD) and granted by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), 2016 to 2020
  • Selected as Employee of the Year at the National Iranian Gas Transmission Company (District 3), 2011
  • Scholarship awarded for master’s research granted by the National Iranian Gas Company, 2008-2012
  • Hired at the National Iranian Gas Company under Elite Employees Law, 2007