1 Dancing the Two-Step: Collaborating with intermediary organizations as research partners to help implement workplace health and safety interventions Desre M. Kramer a,* , Richard P. Wells a , Phil Bigelow a , Niki Carlan b ,Donald C. Cole a, c, d , and C. Gail Hepburn e a Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada b University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada c University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada d Institute for Work & Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada e University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada An article submitted to WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation, February 10, 2009. *Address for correspondence: Dr. Desré M. Kramer, Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders, Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1. Tel.: +1 416 467 6272; Fax: +1 519 886 5488; E-mail: dkramer@uwaterloo.ca . Abstract An analysis is made of the process of three collaborative research projects where intermediary organizations were involved as collaborative partners within the research process, in order to further our understanding of the successes and challenges with such a process. These organizations were provincial health and safety associations (HSAs). They represented workplace parties and acted as intermediaries between the researchers and workplaces. The projects were intervention studies on the impact of participative ergonomics on reducing MSDs in worksites. They crossed four sectors: manufacturing, transportation, service sector, and electrical-utilities sectors. Data was collected from observations, emails, research-meeting minutes, and 36 qualitative interviews. Interviewees were managers, and consultants from the collaborating associations, 17 company representatives and seven researchers.. The article describes how the collaborations were created, the structure of the collaborative partnerships, the difficulties and facilitators of the collaboration, and the benefits and challenges to both the researchers and intermediaries. The evidence of knowledge utilization and exchange between the researchers and HSAs was tracked as a proxy-measure of impact of this collaborative method of research, also called Mode 2 research. It puts forward a strong argument for collaborative research, and offers lessons learned from the projects. Keywords: knowledge transfer and exchange; workplace intervention research; collaborative research; knowledge utilization; prevention of musculoskeletal disorders 1. Introduction A wave of change has washed through the world of research that is challenging our traditional notions of what academic research is all about. Social and political