About the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center

Team engineers workers planning and talking in empty warehouse to design the arrangement of product shelves and organize strategy about new manufacturing.

Founded in 2011, the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center (OHWC) is a Total Worker Health® Center of Excellence funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). OHWC is the only Total Worker Health® (TWH) Center of Excellence in NIOSH Region 10, which includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. OHWC conducts research, outreach, and education to improve worker well-being using the TWH approach. 

Mission and theme

OHWC’s mission is to improve worker well-being by helping organizations prioritize physical and psychosocial safety at the workplace, design safe and healthy work, and develop positive work experiences. 

Our theme in the 2021-2026 funding cycle is TWH intervention effectiveness, translation, and outreach to advance safe and healthy work design. Visit our TWH page to learn more. 

Center focus and structure

Research

OHWC places a focus on researching TWH-based organizational approaches for worker safety, health, and well-being. Explore our research.

Tools and resources

OHWC creates and disseminates educational and evidence-based resources that organizations can implement. Explore our resource library.

Educational programs

OHWC increases capacity for learning and applying TWH by creating educational opportunities for academic and practitioner groups. Explore our training programs.

Partnerships

OHWC develops stakeholder partnerships and collaborative opportunities for moving TWH-based practices into action. Explore our partnerships.

Professor Leslie Hammer

Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

We adopt an enhanced focus on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and believe this is the bedrock of any effort to ensure worker safety, health, and well-being. As a TWH Center, OHWC commits to practicing a DEI-informed approach in all aspects of our work – research planning and operations, resource development and dissemination, and partnership building and outreach. 

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Total Worker Health® Program

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health defines Total Worker Health® as "policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness-prevention efforts to advance worker well-being." At the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, we seek to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oregon's workforce by incorporating TWH approaches into our research and the development of evidence-based workplace interventions. 

Multiethnic Group of People with Various Occupations

Leadership and staff

Leslie B. Hammer, PhD Co-Director OHWC

Center Director

Leslie B. Hammer, Ph.D.
hammerl@ohsu.edu

Anjali Rameshbabu, PhD

Center Manager & Outreach Core Lead

Anjali Rameshbabu, Ph.D.
rameshba@ohsu.edu

Dr. Katia Costa-Black

Outreach Core Lead

Katia Costa-Black, Ph.D.
costabla@ohsu.edu

Learn more about our work

Illustration showing someone opening email on a laptop.

Newsletter

Explore professional development opportunities, the latest updates from the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center and the Occupational Public Health Program, a research snapshot, and upcoming occupational health-focused events.

Picture of a person sitting on a couch reading a blog post on a laptop.

Blog

The Oregon and the Workplace Blog features the latest from OccHealthSci research, professional development opportunities, and valuable insights from disciplines associated with occupational health, safety, and well-being.

OccHealthSci staff member Shaun McGillis recording a podcast.

Podcast

The What's Work Got to Do with It podcast, produced by OccHealthSci, brings together occupational health, safety, and well-being experts to discuss the latest topics relating to worker health, well-being, and safety in Oregon and beyond.