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Translating Health and Safety Research into Action: Building Labor/Managment Capacity to Use Research to Improve Working Conditions

Pamela Tau Lee, BS, Labor Occupational Health Program, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, 2223 Fulton St., 4th Fl, Berkeley, CA 94720-5120, 510-643-7594, ptlee@uclink4.berkeley.edu

Translating Health and Safety Research into Action: Building Labor/Management Capacity to Use Research to Improve Working Conditions. Pam Tau Lee, University of California Berkeley, School of Public Health, Labor Occupational Health Program

The National Institutes of Health has funded a five-year study of hospital workers at two large tertiary care hospitals (AR47798). This study is examining how workplace factors relate to differences in health outcomes across job categories and pay levels. As part of the study, the Labor Occupational Health Program (University of California – Berkeley) is coordinating a Community Outreach and Education Program (COEP). This program has the goal of helping unions and managers within the target hospitals set up effective structures, such as joint health and safety committees, that will serve as a mechanism for reviewing study findings and taking actions to address any issues that arise from the research. The COEP is also designed to facilitate worker and union involvement in study activities through the formation of an institution-specific liaison committee made up of key union representatives and managers within the hospitals. This presentation will discuss the challenges involved in trying to promote optimal worker involvement in a large-scale research project. It will also describe the development of a health and safety training program designed to prepare union members to participate effectively in joint labor management efforts that address study results and improve workplace health and safety. Participants will be able to describe the challenges involved in promoting worker involvement and strategies when a participating in a non-intervention health study.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Research, Occupational Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Handout (.ppt format, 46.5 kb)

Worker Involvement & Hazard Awareness: Occupational Safety and Health Posters

The 132nd Annual Meeting (November 6-10, 2004) of APHA