OccHealthSci May 2026 Newsletter
- Shaun McGillis
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
The latest news, updates, and events from OccHealthSci
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Professional development
Effective solutions to prevent workplace stress and burnout
May 8, 2026
9:45 – 10:45 a.m.
At the Oregon Workers Compensation Education Conference (conference registration required)
Are you concerned about how the rising levels of stress and burnout are affecting your workplace? Join us for an interactive and insightful presentation on the main causes and effects of work stress and burnout, as well as effective solutions to prevent this problem from a Total Worker Health® (TWH) perspective. This holistic perspective addresses both the physical and mental well-being of workers.
Session goals:
Explain stress/burnout as a psychosocial hazard and how it affects safety and organizational performance.
Introduce the TWH approach and related strategies/tools to prevent and manage workplace stress and burnout and other psychosocial hazards.
Discuss the utilization of these strategies and available resources, including supportive supervision training for mental health, sleep, and work-life management solutions from a TWH perspective.
OccHealthSci Sponsored Programs
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center
April 28 was Workers Memorial Day. The Oregon Healthy Workforce Center (OHWC) joins workers across the country and around the world in honoring those who have lost their lives due to unsafe working conditions and reaffirming every worker’s right to a safe and healthy job. A new report from the International Labor Organization illustrates the role psychosocial hazards at work play in worker health, safety, and well-being—attributing more than 840,000 deaths annually to psychosocial risks in the workplace. The OHWC recognizes the mounting evidence that workplace conditions are driving serious health outcomes among workers, including burnout, cardiovascular disease, depression, and injury and is dedicated to both increasing awareness of psychosocial hazards in the workplace conducting research to better understand and address the effects of workplace psychosocial hazards. That is why OHWC has partnered with organizations including Stanford University, UCLA, University of Massachusetts Lowell and other to launch the Work Stress Prevention Alliance in order to address work-related stress and its impact on the mental health (such as burnout), physical health (such as high blood pressure and heart disease), safety and well-being of U.S. workers and organizations.
Learn more about the Oregon Health Workforce Center, including interventions to improve worker health and other resources, current and past research projects, and other resources.
Occupational Public Health & OR-FACE Programs
The National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction is May 4-8. The Stand-Down is an annual event to raise awareness of the danger about falls in the construction industry and to prevent fall injuries and fatalities by engaging employers and employees in discussion about fall hazards, prevention measures, and safety policies. Learn more about the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction.
Learn more about OR-FACE, including our fatality investigations and toolbox talks, by visiting our website. To download and receive new publications including investigative reports and other OR-FACE publications, please join our mailing list.
OccHealthSci Research, Blog and Events
Stay up to date on the latest basic, clinical, and applied research at OccHealthSci, and learn about our partnerships and community engagement at the Oregon and the Workplace blog.
Research and News Briefs
THC before bedtime might not be the sleep fix you think it is
A new pilot study from researchers at OccHealthSci found a single dose of THC before bed delayed sleep onset, disrupted brain wave patterns and reduced heart rate variability—challenging the popular belief that cannabis improves sleep. Learn more about the study.
Mixing cannabis with alcohol and tobacco takes a toll on sleep
New research from the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences finds individuals who use cannabis, alcohol and tobacco report significantly worse sleep quality, more insomnia, and greater daytime sleepiness than those who use cannabis alone. Read more about the research.
An Integrated Risk Management Approach for Patients and Employees in Rural Hospitals in Oregon: A Total Worker Health® Intervention
May 15, 2026
At the International Work Disability Prevention and Integration Conference (registration required)
Join OccHealthSci Drs. Katia Costa-Black, Ph.D. and David Hurtado, Sc.D. for a discussion on the unique challenges rural hospitals face in managing occupational and patient safety due to limited resources, workforce shortages, and geographic isolation. Costa-Black and Hurtado will present on a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in six rural hospitals across Oregon to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation process of a novel safety intervention titled Safety Integration Stewards (SAINTS). Grounded in the Total Worker Health® (TWH) framework, SAINTS aims to integrate patient and worker safety through a participatory, system-level prevention approach.
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