Outreach

The Harvard Chan Education and Research Center (ERC) for Occupational Safety and Health supports not only training programs but an Outreach Program, as well. This has been in existence since NIOSH required the addition of an ERC outreach component beginning around 1988. The first outreach activity was the Visiting Scholar Program which continues today. (See below.)

The goal of the outreach program is to bring the concepts, principles, and research findings of occupational safety and health to communities outside the academic institution. These include communities of practice such as healthcare professionals, industry-based communities such as the northeast fishing community, professional organizations, government agencies, and organizations that support worker safety and health such as the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH).

We interact with these communities by providing educational programs and presentations, engaging in research and other projects when appropriate, through committee service, and by providing a robust menu of free seminars including a Grand Rounds series.

Visiting Scholars in Outreach

The purpose of the Visiting Scholars Program is to bring together academics and others, mostly from the New England Region, who have no or little knowledge of occupational safety and health. Through seminars, quarterly meetings, and interactions with Harvard Chan School faculty, we give them a grounding in occupational safety and health concepts and principles and access to research findings of Harvard Chan School faculty and other academics.

Click here to view the list of current Visiting Scholars.

Community Health Work Program

The Harvard Chan ERC partnered with the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and an industrial hygienist to develop an innovative Occupational Safety and Health curriculum for Community Health Workers (CHWs). The basic curriculum covers 16 hours delivered in 2-hour sessions over an 8-week timespan. Two innovative uses of the trainings were training lead inspectors with the CHWS and training CHWs shared between the police and health departments. Click here for more information about the program.

Fishing Research and Outreach

Ann Backus, Director of Outreach, conducts outreach to the fishing community as a governor-appointed committee member of the Maine Commercial Fishing Safety Council, author of a bimonthly byline titled “FISH SAFE” in Commercial Fisheries News, and author of “The Voice of Safety” in The Fisherman’s Voice. She provides training and education to fishermen through the annual Fishermen’s Forum, the Fishermen’s Day in Stonington, Maine, and as an invited presenter at local and regional gatherings of fishermen. Click here for more details on current and completed projects.

Ann Backus, MS
Director, Outreach Program
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
665 Huntington Avenue, SPH I–1415
Boston, MA 02115
Telephone: (617) 432-3327
Email: abackus@hsph.harvard.edu