Total Worker Health in Action: November 2023
Volume 12, Number 4, November 2023
Director’s Buzz
L. CASEY CHOSEWOOD, MD, MPH
Employers are uniquely able to impact the lives of their workers, both in and outside of the workplace. Today, the lines between work and life outside work are not as easily drawn. For many workers, this creates new challenges and conflicts. Our newsletter looks at these conflicts, their impact on well-being, and how Total Worker Health (TWH) approaches can help.
Our Promising Practice describes workplace policies employers and organizations can use to prevent work-life conflict. Our TWH Exclusive features exciting new research from the National Safety Council. In the exclusive, we examine TWH as one of the concepts shaping safety in the modern workplace. We also highlight a new Vital Signs article written by NIOSH authors. This article describes alarming new data on the mental health crisis we are seeing in the nation’s health workers. A new NIOSH campaign will provide critical strategies for intervention.
With our partners, we continue to research workplace solutions and share resources to help create positive change. We hope you find these features helpful in your work! We encourage you to connect with us by following @NIOSH_TWH, visiting our website, or emailing us at NIOSH Total Worker Health (CDC)
Total Worker Health Exclusive
The New Value of Safety and Health in a Changing World
To continue keeping people safe in today’s modern workplace, the National Safety Council partnered on a study to redefine safety in 2023. With funding from Lloyd’s Register Foundation, and assistance from a panel of experts, NSC initiated this project in 2021. The two-year effort resulted in the report The New Value of Safety and Health in a Changing World.
In the report, NSC identifies organizational concepts shaping modern safety programs that include TWH. By definition, TWH is a holistic approach, so it fits perfectly as one of NSC’s three named organizational concepts. These concepts generate broad value and provide a comprehensive approach to safety management.
The organizational concepts are further broken down by theme profiles. Those listed under TWH, for example, include these themes: preventing serious injuries, illnesses, and fatalities; prioritizing mental health; and focusing on psychological safety. They can be understood through their theme profiles. Those involved in business, safety, and policy can use the themes to guide decision-making for best practices, investment decisions, and performance tracking.
The report presents actionable insights and values. It intends to spark conversations, plans, and policy changes. Ultimately, it aims to lead to new safety strategies that improve workplace culture and worker well-being. Find key highlights and recommendations from NSC in the executive summary.
To learn more about the research view the webinar recording or visit the NSC website. If you’re ready to use TWH approaches in your workplace, visit the TWH website to get started.
L. Casey Chosewood, MD, MPH, Executive Editor
Emily Kirby, Managing Editor
Sarah Mitchell, Associate Editor
Jackie Varela, Contributing Editor
Cheryl Hamilton, Copy Editor
Steven Marra, NIOSH Web Developer
Please send your comments and suggestions to us at twh@cdc.gov.
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Promising Practice
Family-Friendly Workplace Practices: Early Matters Greater Austin Toolkit
Editor’s Note: This Promising Practices article is part of a series dedicated to work and family well-being. To learn more about this topic or explore solutions to work-life conflict, consider watching webinars from our TWH Webinar Series: Navigating Work-Life Boundaries or Promoting a Sustainable Work-Nonwork Interface.
Photo by ©Getty Images
Early Matters Greater Austin (EMGA) is a historic coalition of business leaders in the Austin, Texas, metropolitan area. They focus on strengthening early childhood education to support the future workforce and economy. The EMGA Family-Friendly Workplace Toolkit outlines family-friendly workplace options employers can incorporate into policies, programs, and practices. These options can help support the safety and health of workers and their families by preventing or reducing work-life, or work-family, conflict. Promising practices and their benefits described below serve as a “menu” of family-friendly workplace options:
- Health Benefits: Comprehensive health benefits support workers’ and their families’ physical and financial health, reduces absenteeism, and increases productivity and retention. The toolkit provides details for health insurance, dental and vision, cafeteria plans (or Flexible Spending Accounts), short-term disability insurance, and employee assistance programs.
- Living Wage: Workers paid a living wage support families’ financial security, improve health outcomes, and reduce turnover. A living wage is defined as pay that covers basic needs like food, housing, healthcare, childcare, education, and transportation.
- Paid Leave: Paid leave contributes to workers’ and their families’ physical and financial health by making it easier for workers to manage work-life responsibilities. For instance, it allows workers time to attend children’s appointments and functions without the worry of losing income. Examples include paid time off such as sick leave, vacation leave, and other personal leave.
- Supporting Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities: A significant number of workers care for children, while others have the dual responsibility of caring for both children and adults. Elder care and childcare assistance practices can include on-site facilities, backup or emergency care options, vouchers, and targeted benefit plans. These practices help caregivers meet their responsibilities while maintaining effectiveness at work.
- Flexibility in Location and Hours: Flexibility around when and where you work, along with supportive managers, promotes work-life harmony. Stable and predictable schedules enable workers to effectively plan for childcare and other life responsibilities.
- Supportive Services: Family-friendly supportive services described in the toolkit include support for breastfeeding mothers, like a lockable private room with a comfortable chair, sink, and refrigerator. Additionally, expectant and new parents can benefit from dedicated parking spaces and infant-at-work programs.
- Career Development Opportunities: Organizations can offer return-to-work and reentry support. Other offerings could include education programs and certifications (like tuition reimbursement programs), workplace classes (like English at Work), and transportation benefits to enhance family economic security. Workplace supported recovery programs for people with substance use disorders can also enhance return-to- and stay-at-work efforts.
- Community Involvement Strategies: Corporate social responsibility involves investing in the community through options like paid volunteer days, workplace giving, philanthropic activities, and donations to organizations that support families’ needs. These efforts may increase social connections among workers and provide a more meaningful work experience.
The toolkit was adapted from the Colorado Family-Friendly Workplace Toolkit and aligns with TWH fundamentals. Discover steps to make family-friendly changes in your workplace on the Early Matters Greater Austin website. Find more tools for planning, evaluation, and assessment on the NIOSH website.
News from NIOSH
CDC Vital Signs Released on Health Workers’ Mental Health Crisis
CDC recently released Vital Signs: Health Worker-Perceived Working Conditions and Symptoms of Poor Mental Health—Quality of Worklife Survey, United States, 2018–2022, written by NIOSH authors. This article provides new data showing health workers reported higher levels of poor mental health days, burnout, turnover, and harassment at work in 2022 compared with 2018. Read the article to learn more about the data and strategies to address this crisis.
Photo by ©Getty Images
Help Wanted: Union Members and Labor Representatives
Are you a union member or a labor representative who would like to actively participate with the NIOSH TWH program? The TWH Program would like to expand and enhance its partnerships with organized labor to incorporate TWH approaches for advancing worker well-being into activities supported by labor organizations. If you’d like to participate or nominate a union member or representative to participate, contact us at twh@cdc.gov.
Recorded Webinars: Continuing Education
Two newly released webinars hosted by the NIOSH TWH Program are now available for on-demand viewing and continuing education credits. In September, we hosted the webinar “Using Participatory Strategies in Healthcare to Improve Support Staff and Security Worker Well-being.” In October, we hosted “SMART Work Design for Healthy and Productive Work.” Access the recordings and learn how to obtain free continuing education on the TWH webinar page.
Reminder: Resources to Support Workers During the Holiday Season
Retail workers are likely to experience more shift work and longer work hours as the holiday season begins. This NIOSH publication and NIOSH Science Blog provide e workplace solutions to address fatigue among retail workers during this time of year. Get into the holiday spirit using these TWH approaches in Santa’s Workshop, as reported in this NIOSH Science Blog.
News From the NIOSH Centers of Excellence for TWH
- The California Labor Lab announced eight new pilot study projects focused on diverse topics related to TWH. The Lab’s research projects have also made significant progress. In May, they concluded the California Work and Health Survey, which revealed important insights on emergent working conditions. In addition, the California Artificial Stone and Silicosis Project published the largest U.S.-based case series of silicosis among engineered stone countertop fabrication workers this past July.
- The Carolina Center for Healthy Work Design and Worker Well-being is now on social media! Stay current on the latest Carolina Center research, news, and resources! You can subscribe to the Center’s newsletter and follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
- The Center for Health, Work & Environment (CHWE) recently completed the first round of data collection for a two-year heat-related research project with agricultural workers in Jalisco, Mexico. CHWE partnered with the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social for this effort, funded by the International Labour Organization’s Vision Zero Fund. The project is a collective action approach aimed to understand and prevent the heat-related health and safety impacts of farm worker in Jalisco. CHWE is also partnering with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to offer services to healthcare organizations across Colorado through the Center’s Health Links®.
- The Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW) updated the Healthy Workplace Participatory Program Toolkit to include Spanish CPH-NEW used the toolkit to create a program manual for unions and worker groups. The manual aims to help those learning how to lead the worker-centered design process in the Building TWH Leaders course. In September, CPH-NEW hosted a TWH Trends Expert Webinar titled No One Whistles a Symphony: How to Integrate Safety With Operations Management.
- McKnight’s Long-Term Care News featured a study about nursing homes at the Center for Work, Health, & Well-being. The article is titled Prioritizing Staff Members’ Well-being Shown to Alleviate Shortages: Study. The study found that homes with leadership who communicated and showed commitment to worker safety, health, and well-being had relatively fewer nurses leave during the study period. In addition, a new pilot project study, “Characterizing Experiences of Workplace Violence Among Hospital Patient Care Employees,” was recently funded. It will use data from the Boston Hospital Workers Health Study.
- The Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest (HWC) released a new Workplace Matters Titled Peers in Recovery, the podcast features presenter Eric Cohen from Ace Pipe describing an innovative approach to supporting workers in recovery. HWC partners also released other new resources, including the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition’s podcast and the Nebraska Safety Council’s WellSteps online portal.
- The Johns Hopkins Psychosocial, Organizational, and Environmental Total Worker Health® Center in Mental Health (POE Center) held a Back 2 School Event. The event promoted mental health awareness among teachers, parents, and school-aged children in underrepresented communities. Cohosts included the Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health in collaboration with local community leader Katrina Randolph.
- The Oregon Healthy Workforce Center (OHWC) Co-Director, Dr. Leslie Hammer, guides the Center for Supportive Workplaces, which recently launched the Workplace Mental Health Training for Managers. This one-hour online course teaches managers tangible skills to support employees’ mental health. Another training opportunity launched in May, the TWH Certificate Program, will include updated modules in 2024.
- The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Center for Healthy Work’sGreater Lawndale Healthy Work project is working with Radical Public Health to organize a community violence forum. Panelists will include UIC faculty involved in social-justice-engaged research along with community representatives. The forum intends to create critical and radical discussion about increased violence against street vendors. Learn more.
- The Utah Center for Promotion of Work Equity Research (U-POWER) recently launched the first track of a research clearinghouse: resources for employers. The clearinghouse collates TWH-related resources for employers, workers, community members, and occupational and public health professionals. U-POWER is also partnering with the Utah Education Association to develop a working group and research briefs to promote policies that shape teacher well-being.
These are just a few of the updates from the NIOSH Centers of Excellence for TWH. To learn more about each of the Centers, visit their websites.
News From NIOSH TWH Affiliates and Partners
Welcoming New Affiliate, Yolo County Public Health
Yolo County Public Health serves a county of about 220,000 residents. Located between Sacramento and the Bay Area, Yolo County is home to the University of California at Davis. Besides local government and the university, agriculture remains central to the economy of Yolo County. Yolo County Public Health promotes well-being, works to prevent disease and injury, and protects residents and the environment.
Featured Affiliates: Get to Know the NIOSH TWH Affiliates
This feature was created to introduce our readers to current NIOSH TWH Affiliates. See how the NIOSH TWH Affiliates responded when we asked about their work.
New Publications and Resources
From CDC and NIOSH
- Clearing Up Myths About Older Workers While Understanding and Supporting an Aging Workforce
- Mental Health, Alcohol Use, and Substance Use Resources for Workers and Employers
- Vital Signs: Health Worker Perceived Working Conditions and Symptoms of Poor Mental Health—Quality of Worklife Survey, United States, 2018–2022
From Our Partners
- A Spanish Translation of Zohar and Luria’s Safety Climate Scale and a Test of Measurement Equivalence
- City of Chicago Tipped Worker Report
- Dissemination and Evaluation of an Opioid Hazard Awareness Training for Stone, Sand, and Gravel Miners
- Managing Psychosocial Risk in the Workplace: It’s Time for Progress
- Occurrence of Occupational Injuries and Within Day Changes in Wet Bulb Temperature Among Sugarcane Harvesters
- Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Fabrication Workers in California
- The Stealthy Thief: Manifestations of Indirect Wage Theft and Lived Examples
- The Complex Reality of the California Labor Market: Untangling the Issues
Conferences, Webinars, and Training
November
12 – The UIC Center for Healthy Work will host a 2023–2024 Labor Film Series in partnership with Chicago Jobs with Justice. The film, “Nae Pasaran,” begins at 6 p.m. (CT). For more information about this event and future film screenings, email healthywork@uic.edu.
12-15 – Join the American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting to hear about the latest research from the Centers of Excellence.
16 – Register for the Health Links webinar, Health@Work: Supporting Workers with Chronic Conditions, at 1 p.m. (ET). Learn more about how to support workers with chronic conditions at your workplace.
29 – Researchers from the OHWC will present on “TWH Awareness for Safety Committees.” The session is part of the in Portland.
December
4 – Harvard Center Co-Director Dr. Erika Sabbath will present Work-related Health and Wellbeing of U.S. Obstetrician-gynecologists: Impacts of Post-Dobbs State Abortion Bans at 1 p.m. (ET). Stay tuned to the seminar calendar for more information.
4–5 – Dr. Chosewood will present at the Recovery Ready Workplace New York Symposium.
January
10 – The Nebraska Safety Council will host Reversing Pre-Diabetes in the Workplace as part of the monthly WorkWell Networking and Training Series.
Looking for more? You can find more events on the NIOSH Conferences, Meetings, Webinars, and Events webpage and the Society for TWH Events page.
Total Worker Health® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, citations to websites external to NIOSH do not constitute NIOSH endorsement of the sponsoring organizations or their programs or products. Furthermore, NIOSH is not responsible for the content of these websites. All web addresses referenced in this document were accessible as of the publication date.