OccHealthSci March 2026 Newsletter
- Shaun McGillis
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
The latest news, updates, and events from OccHealthSci
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Recovery Friendly Workplace
The Recovery Friendly Workplace is a growing initiative that equips employers with tools and resources to create recovery-supportive environments and strengthen workplace health, safety, and well-being. One-in-ten American workers is in recovery from a substance use disorder—yet most workplaces are unaware of how to support them. In the coming months, OccHealthSci is offering a series of webinars focused on what workplaces can do to support employees in recovery.
Recovery Friendly Workplaces Work
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Noon - 1:30 p.m. PDT
Virtual workshop
This 90-minute virtual workshop focuses on the concepts and ideas behind a recovery friendly workplace and why that matters to organizations and workers, providing a framework for employers interested in engaging in a recovery friendly workplace.
Substance Use Disorder in the Workplace—Now What?
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Noon - 1:30 p.m. PDT
Virtual workshop
This 90-minute virtual workshop focuses on the structural elements involved in establishing a recovery friendly workplace. Participants will audit their current environment, explore best-in-class programs and practices, and leave with actionable tools they can implement immediately to create lasting, systemic change.
Professional development
Total Worker Health® 101: The Basics
March 12, 2026
9:00 - 11:30 a.m. PDT
Free, virtual workshop
Get ready to dive into the essentials of Total Worker Health (TWH) in a fun and interactive session. The TWH approach brings together policies, programs and practices that are essential for advancing worker safety, health, and well-being. In this introductory course, participants will learn about:
The terms and concepts essential to the TWH approach;
the five defining TWH elements;
effective organizational implementation strategies of a TWH approach; and
ways to develop applicable next steps.
This virtual training is developed and offered by the Oregon Total Worker Health Alliance, which includes Oregon OSHA, SAIF Corporation, and the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, OHSU. Continuing education credits through SHRM, Certified in Public Health (CPH) Professionals and Certified Safety Professionals (CSP) are available.
Total Worker Health®: Advancing Well-being in the Workplace
Part of the University of Washington's (UW) Occupational Safety and Health Continuing Education program. The UW offers course discounts for students, government employees and groups.
March 23 - May 4, 2026
Virtual Instructor-led
Course credits: 2.6
Seats available: 19
Total Worker Health (TWH) is a comprehensive, research-to-practice approach that supports well-integrated policies, programs, and practices to protect workers from different work-related safety and health hazards and promote worker well-being. This course is designed to equip working professionals to apply the TWH approach in their own organization and to communicate with various stakeholders about its value. It focuses on evidence-informed solutions rooted in safety science, occupational health psychology, and human and organizational performance goals.
OccHealthSci Sponsored Programs
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center
The Oregon Healthy Workforce Center (OHWC) Director, Professor Leslie Hammer and OccHealthSci’s Director of Outreach Dr. Erin Flynn joined OHSU Innovates to discuss how research foundations behind innovative workplace mental health initiatives, practical strategies for real-world implementation, and approaches to effective dissemination can have long-term impact across industries. Watch the video here. In related news, Hammer and Flynn were recognized with the Wellbeing Award at the fifth annual Construction Mental Health Summit in Portland, Oregon. The award recognizes the impact of jobsite leader training developed by Professor Hammer’s team. Finally, OHWC congratulates Oregon State University for receiving the honor of becoming Oregon’s first university with a Total Worker Health® designation.
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 a fatality investigation report that examines contributing factors and lessons learned from a logging site where choker setter who assists with cable rigging was fatally struck by a skyline. The incident occurred when the skyline brake was accidentally released while the choker setter was standing underneath it, waiting for the carriage to return. This report offers best practice recommendations to help prevent this kind of incident from reoccurring.
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
The herb American Skullcap helps aging flies sleep—so what might that mean for us?
A team of researchers from OccHealthSci and the BENFRA Botanical Dietary Supplements Research Center found that the herb American Skullcap improved mobility and sleep in aging fruit flies and by protecting brain health. Read more.
Associate Professor Saurabh Thosar Receives Distinguished Faculty Award from Faculty Senate
OccHealthSci Associate Professor Saurabh Thosar was recently honored with the Distinguished Faculty Excellence Award from the OHSU Faculty Senate. Learn more.
Post-Pandemic Primary Care Burnout Drivers: Interplay of Organizational Constraints, Values (Mis)alignment, and Team-Leader Dynamics
A research team at OccHealthSci surveyed primary care employees in Portland, Oregon to examine how organizational constraints, values alignment with leadership, psychological safety, and supervisor support simultaneously contribute to burnout. Results showed that these factors do play a role in burnout. Read the study.
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