Working Well
Conversations at the intersection of health and work
Working Well is a bi-monthly webinar series that highlights unique and shared challenges impacting workers across industries. Join safety professionals, policymakers, and experts in occupational health, safety, and well-being as we discuss the topics that matter the most to workers.
Every other month on the third Tuesday, Working Well will bring you the latest on emerging issues and pressing concerns in workplace safety; we'll introduce you to experts on topics at the intersection of work, health and life; and we'll connect you to ideas and information you can use in the workplace. Working Well addresses worker safety and health topics from a Total Worker Health® approach, which emphasizes hazard-free work for all and prioritizes designing work for optimal well-being.
Upcoming webinars in the 2024-2025 Working Well series
Protecting Oregon's Workforce: Policy Landscape for Workers and Employers
Webinar
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Registration is free and open to all
Oregon is recognized as a national leader in developing innovative legislation and policies that protect the health and safety rights of workers. This webinar will kick off a series of focused discussions that will explore the intended and unintended consequences of recent Oregon laws such as paid family leave, hospital staffing requirements, and overtime for agriculture workers.
Participants will learn about the legal landscape for workers and employers in Oregon from local and national experts. Oregon is consistently recognized by Oxfam’s Best States to Work Index. Learn from the lead researcher on the Oxfam team about how these rankings are established and tested. Learn from Oregon’s Deputy Labor Commissioner about how Oregon balances the safety and rights workers and employers in innovative ways. Download Oxfam's Best and Worst States to Work in the US 2024.
Meet the presenters
Jess Giannettino Villatoro (she/her) is the Deputy Labor Commissioner for the Bureau of Labor and Industries, State of Oregon. She spent the first decade-plus of her career in electoral politics and policy in the Oregon Labor Movement. Jess’ work centered on improving the lives of working Oregonians, and her efforts contributed to the passage of legislation that addressed discrimination, harassment, paid family and medical leave, and other critical worker protections. Many of these laws are enforced by the Bureau.
Kaitlyn Henderson is a senior researcher at Oxfam and the staff-elected member of Oxfam’s Board of Directors. Among other projects, Dr. Henderson is the lead researcher and author of Oxfam’s Best States to Work Index, a look at how states treat workers and working families in the US. This index captures 25 policies across three themes – wages, worker protections, and rights to organize – and includes all 50 states plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico. There were special editions of the index released in 2020 focused on COVID and in 2021 focused on working women. Previously, Dr. Henderson was a Brent Scowcroft Award Fellow with the Aspen Strategy Group, which focused on national security and foreign policy through Track II diplomacy. Dr. Henderson completed her PhD in modern Latin American history at Tulane University, where she received the Peter T. Cominos Memorial Award for her dissertation work.
Scott Strickland (he/him) is the Special Projects Counsel for SMART Local 16, where he works to represent over 2,000 sheet metal workers across Oregon and Southwest Washington. Working in construction before, during, and after law school, he earned his union card by organizing his workplace and has worked on staff for building trades unions since 2018. He currently serves as the Labor Co-Chair on the Workers’ Compensation Division’s Management-Labor Advisory Committee and as the Labor Co-Chair or the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries’ Prevailing Wage Advisory Committee.
Overtime Pay for Agricultural Workers: Policy to Practice
Webinar
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Registration is free and open to all
Starting January 1, 2023, Oregon employers were required to pay overtime to agricultural workers after they worked 55 hours in one workweek. As of January 1, 2025, agricultural workers are eligible for overtime pay after 48 hours in a workweek. How is agricultural worker defined? What defines a work week? What are the implications of this new law for workers and employers? In the 2 years since its gradual implementation with full implementation in 2027, what do we know about how this law is working? Has the gradual implementation of the law aided employers in developing policies and practices that soften the potential economic impacts of this law? Some say it could result in agriculture workers makes less money. How has this innovation in worker focused legislation supported the health, safety, wellbeing of those who work in this industry?
Meet our presenters
Dr. Brockwood is a Staff Scientist at OHSU since 2015, but prior to that was at Portland State University (PSU) overseeing two major federally-funded grants with Dr.Leslie Hammer. Dr. Brockwood received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology & Systems Science from PSU in 2002. She was an Assistant Professor at Pacific University in the School of Professional Psychology from 2003-2008. Dr. Brockwood is a Veteran having served in the U.S. Army from 1988-1992 in Military Intelligence as a Signals Specialist/Cryptologic Linguist.
Dr. Leslie B. Hammer specializes in the effects of workplace conditions, including supportive supervision at work and occupational stress, on workplace mental health and well-being. She is the Associate Director of Applied Research and Professor in the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences at Oregon Health & Science University and the Co-Director of the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, one of 10 centers of excellence in Total Worker Health® funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.
Rules that Work for Workers: Paid Leave Oregon
Webinar
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Registration is free and open to all
In September 2023, Oregon implemented a paid family and medical leave program. Paid Leave Oregon provides 12-14 weeks of job-protected paid leave for Oregon workers who need to take time away from work for qualified family, medical, or safe leave. In this webinar conversation we seek to understand the implications of this program for worker health, safety, and wellbeing. We will talk to researchers evaluating the use and effectiveness of paid family and medical leave programs for diverse groups of workers and program administrators overseeing implementation of Paid Leave Oregon. A few questions we will explore: 1) How is the Paid Leave Oregon program working, 2) how does it compare other programs of its type in other states, and 3) what are the documented outcomes for workers and employers?
Past Working Well Webinars
Too hot to work: How to protect workers from extreme heat and poor air quality
Virtual Webinar
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Watch the video of the "Too hot to work" webinar.
Extreme heat events have claimed more lives in the United States over the past 10 years than any other weather-related event. Climate models predict that climate change will lead to an increase in extreme heat events and associated air pollution episodes. During wildfire smoke or extreme heat events, people may also be exposed to increased levels of harmful air pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, and allergens such as pollen. Heat and air pollution tax human health in distinct ways and the ways we protect workers during heat and air pollution events are also distinct.
In this session, participants will explore what science tells us about the synergistic effects of extreme heat and poor air quality and how to prevent exposure to these hazards effectively.
Learn more about our work
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.
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.
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.