Total Worker Health® training and facilitator resources from CPH-NEW

As we further our research, outreach, and education on workplace safety, health, and well-being, we understand the importance of collaborating with others. We must recognize the voices and work of our stakeholders and partners, as well as to use our funding wisely, which includes not duplicating what others have already done. Here at the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center and our Institute, we appreciate both our strengths in collaborating with so many partners and the opportunities we have to further the sharing of knowledge, lessons, and resources.

Last week at our First Quarter 2022 Total Worker Health® Meet Up, we invited our colleagues from the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW) to share educational resources with our attendees. CPH-NEW, like the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, is a NIOSH Center of Excellence for Total Worker Health®. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) currently funds ten Total Worker Health Centers to generate new knowledge and offer practical solutions to keep workers safe and healthy and help employers build and retain a productive workforce. We were honored to have Suzanne Nobrega, CPH-NEW Associate Director and Outreach Director, join us virtually for our Meet Up to share CPH-NEW news.

Two resources developed by CPH-NEW that may be of interest to occupational health and safety and workplace professionals include a self-paced online course, along with their Healthy Workplace Participatory Program (HWPP) Toolkit. The first, Total Worker Health® (TWH) for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Professionals, is a self-paced, online course that provides a foundational introduction to the concept of TWH and how it applies to OSH professional practice. (We are currently working with Suzanne and her team to create information to illustrate the similarities and differences between this self-paced course provided by CPH-NEW, and the instructor-led TWH Curriculum taught by OHWC and the Oregon Total Worker Health® Alliance.) The CPH-NEW Healthy Workplace Participatory Program (HWPP) Toolkit is designed specifically to help employer organizations adopt and implement programs with a TWH approach.

At my request Suzanne shared some of the feedback they have received from attendees and users of the training and the HWPP Tookit. “Professionals who take the course are hungry for opportunities to leverage the Total Worker Health concept to solve important problems in their workplace,” she said. “Many professionals are struggling to help employees with mental well-being and they need to wrap their heads around where to start. This course helps them think through what a TWH approach could look like in their organization.” Suzanne also shared how the Healthy Workplace Participatory Program has been used in a variety of sectors, and is designed to achieve the elements of a TWH program, including leader support, worker engagement, and cross-functional integration, using both integrative assessment and solution approaches.

We appreciate the opportunity to share the good work of our partners. After all: it is through all of our collaboration among both research and practice, that we will continue to further workplace safety, health and well-being.