Total Worker Health® practitioner education: Full steam ahead

While there is so much that is difficult for workplaces during the pandemic, it is somewhat amazing how much education we have been able to provide for safety, health and well-being professionals in Oregon and beyond. Whereas we had not delivered a virtual course prior to March 2020, within a few months we moved from 100% face-to-face instruction at conferences and meetings, to 100% virtual instruction via platforms previously unknown to us. And although, like many educators, I miss face-to-face contact and am eager for the possibility of holding events in upcoming months, I am appreciative of all we have been able to participate in and accomplish during 2020 and 2021.

During the past two years, the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, in conjunction with our partners with the Oregon Total Worker Health® Alliance, have provided training for hundreds of safety, health and well-being professionals. This has included attendance at our most popular Total Worker Health 101: The Basics (three hour) course, as well as our ~one hour awareness level course (What Should OSH Professionals Know About Total Worker Health?), Workplace Solutions (three hour) and our newest course, a Train-the-Trainer course for TWH 101. We also offer quarterly “Meet Ups” for graduates of the TWH 101 Course. We appreciate the recognition of the value of the contents of this curriculum by professional societies, such as the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) which has assigned continuing education units for ASSP members and course attendees.

As we move into 2022, we are eager to teach the following currently scheduled courses:

• Total Worker Health 101: The Basics, AIHA Tri-Cities, virtual, January 2022.

• Total Worker Health 101: The Basics, OSAOHN and partners, virtual, Spring 2022.

• Workplace Solutions, Cascade Occupational Safety and Health Conference, Eugene, Oregon, March 8, 2022.

• Workplace Solutions for Total Worker Health and Beyond, Full day Professional Development Course, American Industrial Hygiene Association Conference, Nashville, TN, May 22, 2022.

• Stressed Out? Total Worker Health Can Help, Blue Mountain Occupational Safety and Health Conference, Pendleton, Oregon, June 8, 2022.

• TBD, Oregon Healthy Workforce Center Summer Institute, virtual, July 2022.

• Various chapters of American Society of Safety Professionals, and American Industrial Hygiene Association, virtual, 2022.