02/22/23: Improving Worker Health Through Organizational Changes

Improving Worker Health Through Organizational Changes

About the webinar:

Addressing underlying threats of worker safety, health and well-being relies first and foremost on improving the ways work is organized, designed, and managed. Central to such interventions is the focus on work practices, policies and procedures. Organizational interventions may be guided by a conceptual model that can serve as a map of priorities. During this webinar, learners will explore the model developed by the Harvard Center for Work, Health and Well-being, which highlights the importance of conditions of work, including physical, such as chemical and physical exposures, as well as organizational conditions of work such as an increasing pace of work and rising job instability. Learners will review key characteristics of organizational change, as measured in the Workplace Integrated Safety and Health assessment, including: (a) leadership commitment; (b) participation; (c) policies, programs, and practices that foster supportive working conditions; (d) comprehensive and collaborative strategies; (e) adherence to federal and state regulations and ethical norms; and (f) data-driven change. This webinar will also review steps organizations can take in the process of organizational change. A case study conducted in the food service industry will be used to illustrate opportunities and challenges to implementing organizational interventions.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of this activity, the learner will be able to:

  • Provide a rationale and conceptual framework for using an organizational approach to protect and promote worker safety, health and well-being

  • Describe key principles for implementing and evaluating effective policies, programs and practices that create and sustain positive conditions of work

  • Discuss opportunities and challenges through the presentation of a case study

Glorian Sorensen, PhD, MPH


Glorian Sorensen, PhD, MPH, is Research Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director and Principal Investigator, Harvard Chan Center for Work, Health and Well-being. Across multiple large-scale trials, she has tested integrated approaches to promoting and protecting worker safety and health. This research has been conducted across diverse settings, including manufacturing, construction, healthcare, social service, food service, and transportation, and with small and large workplaces. She led the articulation of a conceptual model for integrated approaches that focuses on the centrality of conditions of work in promoting and protecting worker health and its expansion to anticipate systems-level changes as part of the future of work.

ACCREDITATION

The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health designates this activity for a maximum of 1.0 Contact Hour. Participants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Certificates of Completion

Certificates of Completion will be available to webinar participants who are present for the complete, live webinar, and logged in with their registered email address. Call-in attendees are not eligible for certificates at this time - Please download the Zoom app to log in via email on your smartphone whenever possible.

In order to receive your Certificate of Completion, qualified learners must complete the post-webinar evaluation within 7 days of the webinar. A link to the evaluation will be emailed to qualified learners 24 hours after the webinar via no-reply@zoom.us. Qualified learners who submit their evaluation will receive a Certificate of Completion via email, and can also print/save the certificate from their browser after submitting their evaluation.

If you're not able to attend the live presentation, no problem! We record most presentations and will host them on our website provided we have permission to do so. Presentation recordings are not eligible for Certificates of Completion.

California Labor Lab Logo

About the CA Labor Lab:

The California Labor Lab is a collaboration among investigators at UCSF, UC Berkeley, and the California Department of Public Health. The Lab is housed at the Philip R Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF. Our mission is to extend the pursuit of health and safety for workers in traditional employment to those in a wide range of alternative arrangements in partnership with affected communities.

Click here to learn more about the Labor Lab.

ACCESSIBILITY:

If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) to fully participate in this event, please contact Michelle Meyer at (510) 642-8365 or mmeyer@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail) with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event.