Southern States Occupational Network Meeting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bunn T
• Description:
  The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) collaborated with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Regional Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Centers (ERCs), academic partners, and state health departments for five years in meeting locations across the southeastern states to convene and maintain the Southern States Occupational Network (SouthON). This was accomplished through annual meetings, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) capacity building, resource sharing, multistate research publications, and ongoing communication among various collaborating partners. The past five years of SouthON Meetings, from September 2016 through August 2020, were supported by NIOSH under the R13 conference grant award mechanism. The overall aims of the SouthON project are to: Aim 1: Provide epidemiology and program planning tools for establishing OSH capacity building. Aim 2: Build OSH epidemiology surveillance and research capacity among Southeastern states on work-related injuries and illnesses at both the state and southeast region levels; Aim 3: Promote multi-state scientific research collaborations among occupational epidemiologists, community partners, worker organizations, NIOSH, and academic colleagues in the Southeastern region; Aim 4: Develop common priorities for development of occupational risk assessment, applied epidemiology, worksite interventions and occupational health practice. Each year, SouthON brings together 60-70 participants from the 12 southeastern states; NIOSH-funded ERCs, Agricultural Centers, and Training Project Grants (TPG); NIOSH Divisions and Branches; State Health Departments; academic partners; and public health scientists to present and exchange ideas in a relatively small and informal setting that is conducive to new ideas and collaborative activities. Over the past five years, SouthON has played a significant role in bringing together more experienced states and states that are considering the development of an occupational epidemiology program and forming new relationships and partnerships as a result in participating in SouthON meetings. SouthON meetings highlighted numerous successful projects, models, and partnerships that can be used by many states in the southern region. Key examples of collaboration include: a) Collaboration between Florida and Kentucky to develop a project surveillance of commercial motor vehicle crashes and incidents, prompted by a presentation from Kentucky on commercial vehicle crashes. b) Collaboration among NIOSH, state health departments, and ERCs on three manuscripts about 1) work-related hyperthermia emergency departments visits; 2) heat-related illness; and 3) occupational fatalities using data from southeastern NIOSH-funded states. c) Collaboration among five states to develop and administer a survey to assess the occupational exposures and first responder concerns surrounding environmental exposures to opioids during responses to opioid overdoses. d) Collaboration among the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance program and the Florida Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance program on the development of hazard alerts and a toolkit on workplace deaths by suicide. The model of the SouthON meeting is based on the concept that "regional" identification of common issues can help support the development of occupational epidemiology capacity in states that historically have not had commitment or funding in this core area of public health, and foster OSH research. The SouthON meeting is an important part of a larger coordinated effort to build a nationwide public health system in all states to track, investigate and prevent work-related injuries and diseases. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Occupational Health Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Injury Prevention Occupational Health Public Health Risk Assessment Surveillance Programs
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067466
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R13-OH-011003, 2020 Nov; :1-10
• Contact Point Address:
  Terry Bunn, PhD, University of Kentucky, Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, 333 Waller Avenue Suite 242, Lexington, KY 40504
• Email:
  Terry.Bunn@uky.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Atlanta, Georgia
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20150901
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  20200831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3353f1da553962d76701356ac84455591c8b277f1d1c6f10c22a13d7ee4d83173aebca8814e6351d8814e614688f0f2652d33fc3f5652ecd20638055aa18e0e7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219195/cdc_219195_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 254.90 KB ]