Joanne Crawford came to Aotearoa New Zealand as the inaugural 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.

In 2025, she became Professor of Health and Safety within the School of 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.