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9 results for correctional worker

National Correctional Workers Appreciation Week 2023

  May 7-13, 2023, is National Correctional Officers Week also referred to as Correctional Workers Week. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 393,000 correctional officers and jailers worked inside correctional facilities in the United States in 2021.[1] The total number of correctional workers is likely much higher as facilities may also employ chaplains,

Posted on by Sarah Hughes, MPH, and Grace Vixama, MPH, CHESLeave a comment

U.S. Surgeon General Highlights the Value of Worker Well-Being and the NIOSH Total Worker Health® Approach

In a recent article in Public Health Reports, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral (VADM) Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, recognizes the important relationship between employment and health. The article, “The Value of Worker Well-being,” also highlights the efforts of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the NIOSH Office of Total Worker Health®,

Posted on by Emily Norton, BPH; Donjanea F. Williams, EdD; Chia-Chia Chang, MPH, MBA; and Maria Lioce, MD3 Comments

Medical Mystery: What Sent a Pregnant Prison Worker to the Hospital?

Jasmine worked at a prison in central California that provided long-term housing and services for minimum, medium, and maximum custody inmates. She was 34 years old and had worked at the prison for six years.  Jasmine was a correctional officer, and her job duties included security checks, patrolling the facility, and occasionally grid searches and digging for

Posted on by Julie Tisdale-Pardi, MA 22 Comments

Tackling Mental Health Challenges in the Public Safety Sector: Implementing and Evaluating Mental Health Programs

  Public safety sector workers including firefighters (structural and wildland), law enforcement officers, emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians, and corrections personnel are at a high risk of occupational exposure to traumatic events and stress. As such, mental health programs are critical for addressing the unique challenges these workers face. Effective programs must be multi-faceted, address

Posted on by Meghan Kiederer, BA; Hope Tiesman, PhD; Daniel Gerard, MS, RN, NRP; Meret Hofer, PhD; Kristen Wheldon, PsyD; Dana Neitlich, MSW; David Shapiro, BA; Wesley R. Attwood, Dr.CJ; Maryann D’Alessandro, PhD; Suzanne Marsh, MPA2 Comments

Improving Our Understanding of Nonfatal Occupational Injuries

  Counting and describing nonfatal occupational injuries are vital to understanding and prevention. However, this is very difficult to accomplish on a national level. There are large numbers of injuries that are captured, in part, by different sources, and some are not captured at all. There is no single, comprehensive national source of occupational injury

Posted on by Audrey Reichard, MPH; and Suzanne Marsh, MPA2 Comments

Law Enforcement Officers’ Health Effects from Exposure to Opioids: Two Case Investigations

There is uncertainty surrounding law enforcement officers’ exposure to and health effects from opioids encountered while at work protecting the public. Over the past several years, the media have reported instances of opioid exposures and health effects among first responders and other public service workers across the U.S.[i],[ii],[iii],[iv] These reports provide incomplete or uncorroborated information

Posted on by Sophia K. Chiu, MD, MPH3 Comments

Fentanyls and the Safety of First Responders: Science and Recommendations

The severity of the opioid epidemic is well-documented. In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that drug overdose deaths in the United States more than tripled from 1999 to 2015.[1] From 2015 to 2016, opioid overdose deaths increased by more than 20 percent—rising from 52,898 in 2016 to 64,070 deaths in

Posted on by John Howard, MD, and Jennifer Hornsby-Myers, MS, CIH2 Comments

Blog Series to Highlight Musculoskeletal Health Research at NIOSH

Before the end of World War II, there was little interest in fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the capabilities of the working population—a scientific practice known as ergonomics. By the 1970s, NIOSH researchers were pioneering the study of musculoskeletal health as professional ergonomists, examining physical and social components of work environments (such as

Posted on by Emily Warner, MA and Jack Lu, PhD, CPE 3 Comments

Occupations with High Obesity Prevalence in Washington State

  If work and the workplace contribute to poor health behaviors, should employers attempt to improve those behaviors?  It likely is in the employer’s best interest to do so. Poor health behaviors can lead to chronic disease.  Workers with chronic disease may be at higher risk for workplace injury, have more absenteeism, and diminished productivity

Posted on by Wendy Lu, MPH; David Bonauto, MD, MPH; Joyce Fan, PhD;Casey Chosewood, MD; Sara E. Luckhaupt,MD, MPH 12 Comments