OccHealthSci October 2025 Newsletter
- Shaun McGillis
- Oct 1
- 4 min read
The latest news, updates, and events from OccHealthSci
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Working Well webinar series
Examining the science of substance use and the business case for why employees should care
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 Noon – 1:00 p.m. Get your tickets at EventBrite
OccHealthSci’s Working Well webinar series returns in November with an examination of the intersection of the workplace and substance use disorder (SUD)--a medical condition that affects physical and mental health. This webinar will highlight how the Total Worker Health® framework informs the business case for employers to embrace a Recovery Friendly Workplace approach, one that supports employees across the continuum, from prevention and treatment to long-term recovery.
Professional development
Total Worker Health® awareness for safety committees
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. At the Southern Oregon Occupational Safety & Health Conference Learn more and register to attend
Safety committees play a crucial role in the identification and management of different workplace hazards. This workshop helps you to broaden your understanding of all types of hazards, including psychosocial and organizational hazards that are not always easy to recognize. Participants have an opportunity to learn this from the perspective of a Total Worker Health® (TWH) approach, a concept coined and supported by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Participants are also able to relate how current workplace programs and policies might fit (or not) into the TWH approach and how this comprehensive approach can be used by safety committees to advance health, safety, and well-being at work more effectively.
Total Worker Health®: Advancing well-being in the workplace
October 20 – December 1, 2025 Learn more and register to attend
This 26- hour course involves completing 10 hours of virtual instructor-led class time and 16 hours of self-paced e-learning over 6 weeks. Enrolled participants are required to follow the sequence of the self-paced modules using Canvas Learning Management System and to attend three pre-scheduled virtual instructor-led sessions using Zoom Video Conference format. Class sizes are small to allow unique attention to each participant's needs and one-on-one interaction with the instructors (maximum 20 students). No prior knowledge of Total Worker Health is required, but enrolled students should be familiar with the field of occupational health and safety. This course is offered twice a year: in the Spring and the Fall.
This course serves as the key required course for individuals enrolling in the joint UW DEOHS CE/OHWC Total Worker Health Certificate Program. Individuals not seeking the Certificate may enroll and attend the course as a standalone.
OccHealthSci Sponsored Programs
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center
The Oregon Healthy Workforce Center (OHWC) looks forward to seeing you at the 4th International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health® this October 21-24 in Bethesda, Maryland. We invite you to join us at one or more of the many OHWC presentations during this year’s conference.
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 hazard alert on workplace suicides in recognition of Suicide Prevention Awareness month. The hazard alert tells real stories about some of the incidents that have occurred in Oregon workplaces since 2018. The hazard alert also provides prevention recommendations (safety tips).
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 briefs
Weight loss maintenance among truck drivers in the SHIFT randomized controlled trial, USA
A recently published paper co-authored by OccHealthSci researchers Ryan Olson, Kent Anger, Layla Mansfield and colleagues suggests that truck drivers who reported having supportive supervisors were significantly more likely to maintain weight loss over the long term. The findings point to some practical changes that trucking companies could make right now to help improve employee health. The research was published in the Occupational & Environmental Medicine journal. Learn more about this research.
The first-month hazard: Why teenage employees face higher injury risk in their first weeks on the job
New research from the Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (OR-FACE) suggests that for many teenage workers the risks of workplace injury is higher in the first weeks of a new job. To arrive at their conclusion, the research team analyzed data from Oregon’s Workers’ Compensation Division and the National Institue for Occupational Safety and Health’s Employed Labor Force Query System. The research was published in the Workplace Health & Safety journal. Learn more about the OR-FACE team’s findings.
Oregon’s overtime law and the role of community-based research
In 2022, Oregon passed HB4002, a landmark law that extends overtime pay to agricultural workers. To better understand how this change will impact agricultural workers, researchers at the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center are collaborating with community organizations to examining how overtime pay influences the health and well-being of agricultural workers and their families. Read the full story.
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