CALL FOR ABSTRACTS — 141st APHA Annual Meeting

Theme: Think Global, Act Local: Best Practices Around the World

Occupational Health and Safety

Submission Deadline: Sunday, February 10, 2013


The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Section seeks high quality abstracts on topics related to workers’ health and safety for the 141th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association. The theme of this year’s APHA meeting is, “Think Global, Act Local: Best Practices Around the World.”  The OHS Section is soliciting abstracts that emphasize this theme as well as abstracts on other topics.

OHS emphasizes the practical application of research and its implications to improve and enhance the health of working people.  OHS expects that submitted abstracts will reflect the authors’ most current, previously unpublished research.

Please submit an abstract for a poster, oral, roundtable presentation, or a 90- minute session. Accepted submissions for individual oral presentations will be grouped by the OHS program committee into 90-minute oral or roundtable sessions with other abstracts on related themes.  The 90-minute oral sessions will typically feature four (18-20 minute each) scientific presentations and a brief time period for audience Q&A.  The 90-minute roundtable sessions will typically feature five to seven speakers who are given 6-8 minutes each to describe their research, outreach, advocacy, or discussion topic.  The speakers are then situated at different roundtables and audience members select a table and engage in a discussion with that speaker for a 15-minute period.  A second 15-minute discussion period is offered to allow the audience to switch tables and speak with a different presenter. Projectors and other audio visual (AV) equipment are not provided in the roundtable sessions.  In this more interactive format, the OHS Section encourages speakers to use other methods to present their work, including handouts or a poster. If you are interested in participating in a roundtable session, write “interested in roundtable” in the notes section.

Instructions for individuals submitting an abstract(s) for a poster, oral, or roundtable presentation:

Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words.  Where applicable, organize your abstract into four sections: Background and Objective(s), Methods, Results, Conclusion(s).  

OHS understands that you may not have results at the time of submission; if not, please include preliminary results or expected outcomes.  Statements such as “findings will be reported” are not sufficient.

The OHS Section strives to offer a full program of scientific sessions at which participants are able to earn continuing education (CE) credits.  We, therefore, require each abstract include the following:

  1. An abstract that does not mention any trade and/or commercial products.
  2. A signed Conflict of Interest form with a relevant qualification statement.
    • Your qualifications statement should list your unique expertise to present the information identified in your abstract.  Note: “I am a professor at XYZ university” is not deemed an acceptable qualifications statement by the CE accrediting organizations.  An acceptable qualifications statement would be: “I have conducted research on the ABC topic for 5 years, and was the co-PI on this project.”
  3. At least one measurable objective, which must include one of the following action words: explain, demonstrate, analyze, formulate, discuss, compare, differentiate, describe, name, assess, evaluate, identify, design, define, or list. Note: ‘to understand’ or ‘to learn’ are not measurable objectives.
  4. All continuing education learning content must be of sound science or professional practice and serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills and professional competence of the health professional. Learning content should be evidence-based if available. A list of over 30 areas will be provided online from which to choose. You will be asked to choose at least one or up to six areas that your presentation will address.

You will be notified on or around June 1, 2013 if your abstract is accepted, rejected or wait-listed.

Additional instructions for individuals submitting a set of abstracts for a 90-minute oral session:

Slots for 90-minute sessions are very competitive.  A complete, well-written abstract is required for each presentation proposed for the 90-minute session.  Ideally, four presentations will make up the 90-minute session.  The session request will be evaluated by the OHS Section reviewers based on the quality of each individual abstract, as well as the degree to which the individual abstracts complement each other, the diversity of the speakers (e.g., different disciplines, organizations, backgrounds) and the proposed session’s potential contribution to the overall OHS Section scientific program.   

Submission Requirements:  Each 90-minute session requires one “session abstract” and one abstract for each proposed presentation.

  1. Submit one abstract using the proposed title for the 90-minute session to serve as a “placeholder” for the overall session.  In the first sentence of the abstract write, “this is an abstract for a 90-minute session.”  In the "Comments to Organizers" box on the Title step, please describe briefly the session objectives, and include the names of each proposed presenter and the title of their presentations. Do not include the names of each proposed presenter and the title of their presentations in the body of the abstract.
  2. List the organizer or key contact person for the proposed session as the “first author” on session abstract.
  3. Indicate in the ‘notes’ field that this is an overview abstract for a proposed 90-minute session. 
  4. Ensure that each proposed presenter submits an abstract for their unique presentation.  They should indicate in the ‘notes’ field that this abstract is part of the [proposed title of session] organized by [name of organizer].
  • Blue-green alliances
  • Chemicals & toxic substances
  • Community health workers (e.g., promotoras)
  • Construction, transportation, mining and/or agricultural workers
  • Emergency response and disaster cleanup
  • Energy sector workers (e.g. fracking, solar manufacturing, green energy)
  • Evaluation research
  • Goods movement
  • History of occupational health & safety
  • Illness prevention
  • Industrial hygiene & exposure assessment
  • Infectious disease prevention
  • Injury epidemiology
  • International experiences/efforts in health and safety
  • Laboratory safety
  • Low-wage workers or temporary workers
  • Nanotechnology
  • Obesity and role of work
  • Occupational health disparities
  • Prevention through design and/or the built environment
  • Scientific award lecture nominations/submissions
  • Social media to promote OHS topics
  • Student-conducted OHS research
  • Surveillance of injuries, diseases and other work-related conditions
  • Work information in electronic health records
  • Work organization and control, including shift work
  • Worker and community issues involving bsl 3 & 4 laboratories
  • Workplace wellness and health promotion
  • Other OHS topics
The OHS section encourages student participation and offers student scholarships. Please see our section page on the APHA web site

http://www.apha.org/membergroups/sections/aphasections/occupational

Deadline for abstract submission is February 10, 2013.

Please contact Lina Lander, Sc.D. (llander@unmc.edu) or Nancy Simcox, MS (nsimcox@u.washington.edu ) if you have questions about submitting your work.
Ready?
Program Planner Contact Information:
Lina Lander, ScD
Department of Epidemiology
University of Nebraska Medical Center
984395 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-4395
Phone: 4025599402
llander@unmc.edu

and
Nancy J. Simcox, MS
Division of Public Health & Population Sciences, Section of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
University of Connecticut Health Center
270 Farmington Ave, Suite 262
Farmington, CT 06030-6210
Phone: 860-679-4634
Fax: 860-679-1349
nsimcox@uw.edu

and
Elise Pechter, MPH, CIH
Occupational Health Surveillance Program
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
250 Washington Street
6th floor
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617 624 5681
Fax: 617 624-5676
elise.pechter@state.ma.us

and
Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, PhD, DO, MPH, CPH
Department of Epidemiology & Public Health
University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine - NIOSH Research Group
1120 N.W. 14th Avenue, 10th Floor (R-669)
Clinical Research Building, Rm 1075
Miami, FL 33136
Phone: 305-243-7565
Fax: 305-243-5544
acabanapha@gmail.com

and
Özlem H. Ersin, MBA, MEd, PhD
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Manchester University College of Pharmacy
10627 Diebold Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46845
Phone: 260-470-2678
Fax: 260-470-4410
ohersin@manchester.edu

and
Kevin Riley, PhD MPH
Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program
University of California, Los Angeles
10945 LeConte Ave, Suite 2107
Box 951478
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1478
Phone: 310-983-3059
kriley@ucla.edu

and
Peter Dooley, MS, CIH, CSP
LaborSafe
6301 North Zeeb Road
Dexter, MI 48130
Phone: 734-320-5160
peterfdooley@gmail.com

and
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH
Dept of Environmental & Occupational Health
George Washington University
102 Senisa Court
Washington, DC 78666
Phone: 512-938-3312
cmonfort@gwu.edu

and
Homero Harari, MSc
Department of Work Environment
University of Massachusetts Lowell
One University Ave. Kitson Hall 200
Lowell, MA 01854
Phone: 978 888 3634
Homero_Harari@student.uml.edu

and
Miriam Weil, MPH, ScD
Environmental Health and Safety
Boston Children's Hospital
300 Longwood Avenue
217 Wolbach
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: 617-869-1318
weilmirweil@gmail.com

and
Mark D. Catlin, BS BA
Health & Safety Department
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
1800 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, MD 20036
Phone: (202) 730-7290
mark.catlin@seiu.org