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University of Colorado Denver

Center for Worker Health and Environment

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Making Experiences Happen.

Through community partnerships we translate research to practice to improve worker health and safety in a practical way.

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In The Field

Outreach & Student Projects

The Mountain & Plains ERC has the pleasure of working with students, industries and community partners in the region to execute practice in the real world of occupational health and safety. This includes reporting from trainees, working with surrounding states on their surveillance programs, teaching interdisciplinary courses, partnering with local organizations to improve health and safety and even going on some very fun industrial site visits.

Occupational Health Surveillance: Colorado & Wyoming

Keeping track of workplace injuries and illnesses is critical. By paying close attention to injury and illness trends, public health professionals identify ways to intervene and prevent further morbidity and mortality.

Find out about the Occupational Health Surveillance Programs

Holding Mother Earth Sacred Exhibit

The Mountain & Plains ERC is proud to support a collaborative effort between Earl Dotter, Cindy Becnel, and four tribal communities that documents how these four sovereign nations develop energy resources (conventional, renewable, alternative), create jobs and ensure worker safety.

View photos from HMES

Health Impact Assessment

The Colorado School of Public Health, in collaboration with the Garfield County Public Health Department, conducted an HIA to assess the potential health implications of a 200-well natural gas development proposal within the community of Battlement Mesa, Colorado.

Click here to view drafts of the HIA

Industrial Site Visits

A couple of times each semester, the MAP ERC arranges industrial site visits to get students out of the ivory tower to see first-hand what OESH practice looks like. The site visits give MPH students at the Colorado School of Public Health a chance to understand what occupational health is about.

Check out videos and photos from site visits here

Interdisciplinary Course Projects

Every semester, interdisciplinary teams of ERC trainees work together on projects in the "real world." While working on these interdisciplinary projects, trainees become familiar with "other" scientific disciplines, they begin building professional relationships that will continue well into the future and they gain valuable experience working in the community.

Watch student videos from the course

Art Students League of Denver

The Mountain & Plains ERC has been working with an arts school in Denver to identify which paints, which solvents and which artistic methods pose potential health and safety risks to artists and art students. Beginning with a baseline assessment and set of recommendations, ERC trainees, faculty members and leaders in the art school embarked on a project that is still ongoing.

Learn more about the project

Advancing Ergonomics at New Belgium Brewery

While she was working toward her doctoral dissertation in ergonomics at CSU, Mountain & Plains ERC trainee Dr. Angela Dartt worked with New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins. By the end of her work, she had a list of recommendations that the brewery could implement to reduce their employees' risk.

Take a closer look at Dr. Dartt's research

Designing the Age Friendly Workplace

It may come as no surprise that it's becoming more and more common for workers to delay retirement and keep working past the traditional retirement age of 65. In fact, in the coming decades, we'll see more workers in their sixties, seventies and eighties than we ever have before. Without going into the details, there are a complex set of forces compelling people to work later in life. The Mountain & Plains ERC is working with its sister organization at the University of Washington (the Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety) to identify the best practices for designing "age friendly" workplaces that promote safe and healthful work throughout employees' lives.

Learn more about this

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