Total Worker Health (TWH)

NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard led a Roundtable at the Work, Stress and Health 2013 Conference in LA focused on Total Worker Health (TWH) that discussed the issue that wellness programs can place a significant requirement on employees to achieve wellness goals.  Wellness programs need to be designed to support employee success and avoid using them to penalize employees who are in poor health or who have predispositions toward unhealthy lifestyles.  Two pictures from the … Read More

The Work, Stress, and Health Conference (formally the 10th International Conference on Occupational Stress and Health) began today in LA. The conference is focused on Total Worker Health (TWH) which is the integration of occupational safety and health with wellness and wellbeing. Attendees are learning about recent research, and practitioners are attending to learn new ways to develop and implement TWH programs in the workplace. A picture of the audience at the opening session is … Read More

  Oregon Health and Science University is pleased to be one of dozens of Oregon organizations and companies participating in Safety Break for Oregon this year. While we believe in being safe every day, Safety Break allows us to join employers throughout our state to make a public statement about the importance of safety and health. Here at CROET, the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, and OHSU, we wanted to go one step further and address … Read More

  The Oregon Healthy WorkForce Center seeks applications for two Pilot Projects that will expand our portfolio of research on programs that improve occupational health, safety, and personal wellness. A maximum of $50,000 for the first pilot and a maximum of $25,000 for the second pilot is available for a 1-year project beginning in August, 2013. The proposal must address a strategic goal in a NIOSH NORA sector area. For the $50,000 award, the Principal … Read More

Thursday evening New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Moss spoke to a near-capacity OHSU auditorium audience about the obesity epidemic in the US and the role of food in the development of that dangerous and costly trend. His new book on the subject (Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us) is the headline to this blog.  Among many topics, Mr. Moss described the way in which new processed foods are created through … Read More

Perhaps by now you’ve gotten word on the 2013 Oregon Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health Conference. Maybe you’ve attended before and already have it on your calendar for March 4-7, 2013. If not, make sure to visit the GOSH website, and review the enormous program containing over 150 technical sessions. You’re sure to see why this event is touted as the largest event of its kind in the Northwest. And when you do attend, make … Read More

Critical to workforce health is the safe and healthy work and home practices of the nation’s youth.  An innovative program developed by the Oregon Healthy WorkForce Center, a NIOSH Center of Excellence, offers both safety and health training as well as healthful lifestyle information to summer workers in Portland (Oregon) Parks and Recreation pools that is subsequently reinforced by messaging on social media sites such as Facebook and Pintrest.  Depicted are focus group and study … Read More

The Total Worker Health conference in Iowa began this morning with a presentation by Dr. John Howard, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),  on the critical importance of prevention in the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). The role of workforce health in the nation’s health, where prevention is the primary method for reducing health care costs, was the theme of Dr. Howard’s presentation. Shown in the picture is a … Read More