This renewal application (2020-2025) requests support for the Work Environment program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell to continue its current training program grant with two funded occupational safety and health training programs: a) Occupational Safety/Ergonomics (OS/E) in the College of Engineering; and b) Occupational Epidemiology (Occ Epi) in the College of Health Sciences. These programs have been funded by NIOSH since 1991. They had been housed in the Department of Work Environment until 2016 when that department was merged with another to form the Department of Public Health. In 2018, Drs. Buchholz and Punnett, the Program Directors for each of these two programs, moved to the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The mission of the program, to train work environment professionals and conduct research on the identification and evaluation of safety and health hazards and the design of safe and efficient alternatives, thereby promoting the development of healthy and sustainable workplaces, has not changed. In this mission, we are guided by an overarching vision to: design and promote systems of production that are environmentally-sound, safe, healthy and rewarding for workers, communities, and consumers. Our integrated approach to health and safety strives to answer the basic question, ?What is the optimal design of a healthy workplace, and how can it be achieved?? Trainees, regardless of discipline, will be required to complete a three-course core: Work Environment Policy & Practice; Ergonomics & Work and Epidemiology & Biostatistics. In addition, all students will need to complete an occupational health & safety based project. The program?s integrated curriculum has three broad academic objectives: (1) recognition and evaluation of occupational safety and health hazards; (2) control and prevention of occupational safety and health hazards; and (3) development and implementation of workplace interventions including safety and health programs, as well as other social and economic policies. Graduates of the Work Environment program include many successful practitioners and researchers whose careers in occupational safety and health indicate overall success towards these goals. The proposal requests five years of funding to support a total of six graduate trainees: three trainees each in OS/E and Occ Epi. It is expected that we will, in general, support masters trainees for two years, but will also occasionally support doctoral students.
Epidemiology and ergonomics are two fundamental disciplines of occupational safety and health. The occupational ergonomist is concerned with identifying potential health hazards affecting the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, mental/emotional, or other body systems, so an understanding of the epidemiologic evidence is essential. The occupational epidemiologist must appreciate the importance of exposure assessment ? whether biomechanical, physical, chemical, or psychosocial - in order to characterize dose-response relationships and assess the effectiveness of interventions; and must have a sophisticated methodologic toolbox in order to unpack questions of public interest such as the health effects of prolonged sitting vs standing, population stress related to the changing nature of work, or the potential impact of occupational injury on opioid use.
| Sama, Susan R; Kriebel, David; Gore, Rebecca J et al. (2017) Environmental triggers of COPD symptoms: a case cross-over study. BMJ Open Respir Res 4:e000179 |
