Learn about the latest Health Links™ happenings and news below. Have a story to share? Get in touch.
For many companies, this December will be the first time since 2019 that employees will come together for an in-person holiday party. More employees may be dealing with alcohol addiction than in years past. Employers should be mindful of employees who are in recovery or trying to cut back on their alcohol consumption.
While attending and presenting at the 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®, David Shapiro summarizes the future of TWH training programs and the distinctions between each which help serve different trainees and industries.
Type 2 diabetes continues to be a leading chronic disease in the United States, affecting 1 in 10 adults and is a serious issue for employers and employees alike. In response to providing employers with the tools to support employees, Health Links™, a program based at the Center for Health, Work & Environment, has developed and hosted trainings and education forums, provided technical assistance through advising sessions, and performed outreach activities over the past three years to address the negative impact of chronic disease in the workplace.
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As a senior professional research assistant and doctorate in public health candidate at the Colorado School of Public Health, Macaluso explores the relationships between issues such as drought and heavy metals exposure in her research projects in the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado.
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For many companies, this December will be the first time since 2019 that employees will come together for an in-person holiday party. More employees may be dealing with alcohol addiction than in years past. Employers should be mindful of employees who are in recovery or trying to cut back on their alcohol consumption.
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Increasingly hotter temperatures indoors and out can also amplify existing injuries and illnesses for workers with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. While attending and presenting at the 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®, David Shapiro summarizes a session on the climate crisis and its impacts on outdoor workers.
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There is a mental health epidemic going on in the construction industry. People working in construction are nearly 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. While attending and presenting at the 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®, David Shapiro summarizes a session on suicide in the construction industry.
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One of the many ways we work to protect workers is through educating and training future leaders in occupational safety and health. As part of our Student Spotlight series highlighting our trainees, we interviewed Julia Beckel, MS, a Mountain & Plains Education and Research Center trainee earning a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Colorado State University.
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While attending and presenting at the 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®, David Shapiro summarizes a session on power at work and its intersection with the TWH approach.
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Our Center recently hosted 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®, in Bethesda, MD at the NIH Campus. The four-day conference hosted students, working professionals, researchers, and academics from diverse backgrounds and workplaces, united in their pursuit of improving health, safety and well-being for the global workforce.
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While attending and presenting at the 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®, David Shapiro summarizes the future of TWH training programs and the distinctions between each which help serve different trainees and industries.
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While attending and presenting at the 3rd International Symposium to Advance Total Worker Health®, Natalie Schwatka, PhD, explored what research, practice and education look like in the field of occupational health and safety. She walked away thinking about not only how important all three are, but how can we integrate them better? The answer to her question was listening.
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The pride of the MAP ERC is the hands-on, real world experiences we offer students through training and site-visits. Last week, trainees from our Health Physics program had a private tour of the USGS TRIGA Reactor in Lakewood, CO.
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Type 2 diabetes continues to be a leading chronic disease in the United States, affecting 1 in 10 adults and is a serious issue for employers and employees alike. In response to providing employers with the tools to support employees, Health Links™, a program based at the Center for Health, Work & Environment, has developed and hosted trainings and education forums, provided technical assistance through advising sessions, and performed outreach activities over the past three years to address the negative impact of chronic disease in the workplace.
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In the newest installment of our Alumni Spotlight series highlighting our graduated trainees, we interviewed Angie Dartt, director of chemical safety at Washington University in St. Louis. Dartt is a graduate from the MAP ERC's industrial hygiene program who is seriously passionate about occupational safety and health.
The Society will serve as a hub and community for sharing new and innovative ideas to expand Total Worker Health (TWH) research, training, education, dissemination, and real-world solutions.
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Our center stands on three pillars: Research, Education, and Practice. One of the many ways we work to protect workers is through educating and training future leaders in occupational safety and health. As part of our Student Spotlight series highlighting our trainees, we interviewed Emily Sharpe, a student earning a Certificate in Total Worker Health from the Colorado School of Public Health.
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Each year, Health Links celebrates Colorado employers committed to workplace health, safety, and well-being. This year’s in-person event aptly honored the award winners and finalists for their achievements in the workplace while providing attendees the opportunity to network and gain inspiration from other employers.
The three-year study out of the Center for Health, Work & Environment is the first known human health risk assessment to evaluate the large number of heavy metals that may be present in cannabis flower, concentrates and vape devices.
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A red orange sun glows behind the clouds of smoke rising over the smoldering field. The smell is slightly sweet, but heavy. A cheerful school bus waits beside acres of burnt sugarcane. Dr. Lee Newman sits behind a table of lab samples near the bus. He and his research team are working to determine the causes and factors of chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu) among Guatemalan sugarcane workers – one of many complex problems that attract him.
On July 21st, the Center for Health, Work & Environment hosted its third annual partner awards ceremony to honor the commitment and achievements of some of its key partners.
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This month Health Links celebrates its 10-year anniversary. As an established program that serves communities throughout Colorado and nationally, Health Links has been a resource employers rely upon for a decade. What started as a group of local consultants training business leaders across Colorado, Health Links is now a nationally trusted advisor for a growing network of organizations committed to keeping their employees healthy, safe and well.
To address the staggering increase in substance-use, mental health needs, and substance-related deaths, The Center for Health, Work & Environment launched the Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative. The project works with partners and employers to create workplaces that support workers struggling with substance use and addiction.
Public water can have low or undetectable levels of elemental or chemical impurities like metals, pharmaceuticals, household products, disinfectant byproducts, PFAS, and hardness, according to Associate Professor Katherine James.
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Our center stands on three pillars: Research, Education, and Practice. One of the many ways we work to protect workers is through educating and training future leaders in occupational safety and health (OSH). As part of our Student Spotlight series highlighting our trainees, we interviewed Karely Villareal Hernandez, a student earning a Master's in Public Health from the Colorado School of Public Health.
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In the newest installment of our Alumni Spotlight series highlighting our graduated trainees, we interviewed Dr. Kevin Walters, an assistant professor of psychology at Fort Lewis College. Walters is a graduate from the MAP ERC's organizational health psychology program and works to empower others to apply psychology to improve their own lives and communities.
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Encore Electric, a leading electrical contractor in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, checks all the boxes. Its workforce checks all the boxes for what the CDC considers to be the highest risk individuals for suicide and mental health issues. Males working in construction between the ages of 16-64 years old.
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For many, mental health feels like a private, personal issue. Why bring it up in the workplace? CHWE’s approach to mental health awareness and support is rooted in the understanding that employers have an immense opportunity to impact the mental health of their employees.
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Researchers from the Center for Health, Work & Environment have completed their first year of data collection for two research grants with agricultural workers in rural Guatemala. The research grants entail three research projects that will span across the next three to five years.
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Most of us are familiar with the concept of micro ergonomics – where machines, the environment, software, and work activities interact with humans. But Natalie Schwatka, PhD, prefers to zoom out a bit further. In her research and graduate instruction, she explores macro ergonomics – specifically how leadership impacts the workplace.
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We don’t often talk about return on investment (or ROI) in academics. We focus on expanding the fields of research, making new discoveries, building capacity, actualizing theories, and engaging communities and individuals in programs. But this past week, the Mountain & Plains Education and Research Center and the Environmental and Occupational Health Department of the Colorado School of Public Health, saw a return on the investment it’s made in people – their trainees specifically.
Going back into the office can feel overwhelming. Lili Tenney, assistant professor and associate director for outreach and programs for the Center for Health, Work & Environment, discusses how workers and employers are facing this new normal.
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Trainees from our Mountain & Plains Education and Research Center (MAP ERC) recently took an old-school field trip to Fort Carson Army Base. These types of practical, unique learning opportunities are available in abundance to MAP ERC trainees. Each of the center’s six occupational safety and health graduate programs place great importance on interdisciplinary education and first-hand experiences. Our programs prioritize helping students understand and encounter the roles they could have (or work closely with) after graduation.
With 90% of Coloradans immune to Omicron and the state transitioning to an endemic response plan, COVID-19 restrictions are more relaxed than ever. Despite this positive news, public health experts recommend remaining adaptable due to the ever changing nature of the pandemic.
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The Great Resignation and the pandemic have created historic labor shortages. Everyone is trying to do more with less, in many cases while still working remotely. How can you avoid burnout? Here are some strategies for you and your team.
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Our center stands on three pillars: Research, Education, and Practice. One of the many ways we strive to protect workers is by educating and training future leaders in occupational health and safety. To kick off our Alumni Spotlight series highlighting our graduated trainees, we interviewed Silpa Krefft, a pulmonary and critical care physician and researcher specializing in occupational and environmental lung diseases.
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Occupational photojournalist Earl Dotter walks through his career photographing the faces and working conditions of Americans. We explore its ties to Black History Month and the 2022 theme of Black Health and Well-being.
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Miranda Dally is neither a doctor nor a lawyer. As a first-generation college graduate, she was raised with the expectation that she would go to college but was not entirely sure what college could offer. She never anticipated that her journey in academics would lead her down the path of becoming a biostatistician, research instructor, and DrPH candidate working in international occupational and environmental health.
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Researchers from the Center for Health, Work & Environment have published a paper in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine studying the impact of 1-on-1 advising on Total Worker Health. The study is one of the first to examine how Total Worker Health framework consultation impacts the way organizations adopt and improve workplace policies and practices for worker health and safety.
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Each year, Health Links celebrates Colorado employers committed to workplace health, safety, and well-being. This year’s virtual event aptly honored the award winners and finalists for their achievements in the workplace while providing attendees the opportunity to network and gain inspiration from other employers. With award celebrations sprinkled throughout the day, attendees participated in a variety of workshops ands continuing education sessions held by academic and industry experts.
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Through our research, education, and practice, we work hard to represent workers from all backgrounds and in all industries. But who are the people behind the work? Human Side of Work is a project dedicated to capturing the faces, stories, and day-to-day lives of a diverse workforce.
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Children’s Hospital Colorado has been part of the Health Links Healthy Workplace Network™ since 2016 and is one of our tenured customers and partners. Over the last seven years, Children’s Colorado has shown unwavering dedication to putting its people first. At our annual event on October 28, Children’s Colorado will be presented with the first-ever Health Links™ Continued Excellence Award.
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Dr. Alisa Koval, associate program director of the Occupational Medicine Program from the Center for Health, Work & Environment, was on the straight and narrow path as far as medicine is concerned. She ended up finding her clinical identity and passion in helping workers through occupational medicine.
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How do we navigate decision-making around COVID-19 as we proceed with work gatherings, events, and travel? Lili Tenney weighs in on what workplace managers and leaders should be doing to protect their employees from the COVID-19 delta variant. Read our article for public health advice you can understand and trust.
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CHWE first received designation as a CDC/NIOSH Center of Excellence in 2016. With this renewal, it will be one of 10 centers nationwide. The Centers of Excellence represent the extramural portfolio of TWH research to further its mission of protecting and advancing the safety, health, and well-being of the diverse population of workers in our nation.
In an article in the Denver Post, Liliana Tenney, associate director for outreach at the Center for Health, Work & Environment, explains, "there’s science that shows that employers who support mental wellbeing can improve job satisfaction, retention and recruit high talent."
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Our center stands on three pillars: Research, Education, and Practice. One of the many ways we strive to protect workers is by educating and training future leaders in occupational health and safety. To kick off our Alumni Spotlight series highlighting our graduated trainees, we interviewed Mwangi Ndonga, an industrial hygiene graduate working as the Senior Health and Safety Hygienist at Ball Corporation in Broomfield, CO.
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Researchers from the Center for Health, Work & Environment have published a paper in Kidney International Reports studying the daily changes in creatinine among sugarcane workers in Guatemala. The study examined the effects of repeated kidney stress from the simultaneous strain of work and other factors experienced by workers during a typical workweek.
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There is no denying it—climate change is bringing the heat. If you are one of the many workers in the U.S. or around the world who work outdoors, extreme heat is not just uncomfortable; it can pose a significant risk to your health. For researchers at the Center for Health, Work and Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health, the connection between climate, work, and health is hitting especially close to home.
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34 regional managers from Region VIII of the US Department of Labor’s Office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) participated in a workplace mental health training. Learn what staff and faculty from the Center for Health, Work & Environment and the Department of Family Medicine at the Colorado School of Medicine had to say to them.
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There is a box full of hats in the corner of Dr. Tom Johnson's office. There is a shimmering yellow fish, a horned Viking helmet, a foam moose head with antlers, a giant taco, and many more.
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On July 2, the Center for Health, Work & Environment hosted its second annual partner awards ceremony to honor the commitment and achievements of some of its key partners.
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The Center for Health, Work & Environment wants to make sure small businesses are not left out of the conversation when it comes to return to work. The Center invited John Dony, senior director of Thought Leadership from the National Safety Council (NSC), to speak to small employers specifically about returning to work after COVID-19.
© 2018 Health Links
