OccHealthSci August 2026 Newsletter
- Shaun McGillis
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
The latest news, updates, and events from OccHealthSci
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Professional development
University of Washington Occupational Safety and Health Continuing Education Program
Total Worker Health® (TWH): Advancing well-being in the workplace
October 8 – November 19, 2026 Learn more and register today
TWH is a comprehensive, research-to-practice approach that is essential to protect workers from emerging, traditional safety and health hazards, and promote worker well-being. The course content will include an examination of the TWH five elements and concepts, an introduction to occupational health psychology, its relevance to safety, and discussion of resources and effective implementation strategies to help organizations integrate safety, health, and well-being policies, programs and practices.
Join us in a combined learning environment that includes 6 weeks of self-paced learning and in-person interactive, virtual sessions on the practical application of the TWH approach.
A certificate of completion for Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) will be awarded following course completion. Additional professional development credit available upon request: Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Certified Public Health Professionals (CPH), Certified Safety Professionals (CSP).
OccHealthSci Sponsored Programs
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center
The Oregon Healthy Workforce Center is accepting proposals for pilot research projects addressing TWH in Oregon, Alaska, Washington, and Idaho. Funding of up to $20,000 is available for projects that focus on research-to-practice. This year’s special focus is on AI and work. Learn more and apply today.
The Center would like to congratulate Dr. Anjali Rameshbabu (center manager and outreach core lead) for receiving a Fulbright Specialist Award from 2026-2029. Specialists, represent a wide range of professional and academic disciplines and share their knowledge, skills, expertise, and innovative ideas through two- to six-week projects designed and requested by foreign receiving institutions in over 150 countries and other areas.
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 Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OR-FACE) Program recently published its 2024 Occupational Fatalities in Oregon Annual Report. In 2024, OR-FACE recorded 60 fatal occupational incidents resulting in worker deaths. This number represents a rate of 2.85 fatalities per 100,000 employed workers in the civilian labor force in Oregon. The national worker fatality rate in 2024 was 3.3 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. The OR-FACE Program has also updated its incident maps to reflect fatalities through 2024. The incident maps include workplace fatalities that have occurred in Oregon since 2003. There are three incident maps: incidents categorized by event, industry, and occupation.
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
Offering Paid Sick and Family Leave Is Not Enough: Leave Supportive Supervisor Behavior Training Improves Policy Use, Health, and Work Outcomes
A new study led by researchers at Purdue University and OccHealthSci and published in the prestigious Journal of Applied Psychology examined whether supervisor training affects how employees use paid sick leave and family leave. Supervisor training, not paid leave policy alone, drove employee leave use in a six-month field-study of two universities. Read more about this research.
Experiences of tradeswomen in construction: Creating safe, healthy, and respectful workplaces
A new study from the research team behind the Safety Climate Lab at OccHealthSci interviewed 20 tradeswomen and industry experts to explore construction workers' experiences through the TWH and sociotechnical frameworks. Findings highlighted benefits like strong wages and camaraderie alongside challenges including harassment, poorly fitting PPE, and limited training access. The study offers multilevel recommendations—spanning organizational, supervisory, coworker, and individual levels—for building safer, healthier, more respectful and inclusive construction workplaces for women. Read the study.
Drinking to unwind after work may make firefighters’ sleep worse—and vice versa
A new study of 120 firefighters conducted by researchers at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences found that alcohol use and poor sleep create a reinforcing cycle—each making the other worse. Watch the video:
Events
Oct 8-19: TWH: advancing well-being in the workplace (multiple sessions)
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