Between 2018-2022, Utah occupational accidents claimed the lives of 257 Utahns and injured 161,400.

Unfortunately, these types of injuries and death are commonplace in the state.

In an effort to reduce those numbers, four Utah universities have formed a partnership with Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health to boost career opportunities in occupational and environmental health and safety.

“We don’t know of anything else like this partnership that has occurred in this state,” said Tori Joy, who is leading the partnership as the occupational and environmental health and safety pathways coordinator at Weber State University. “The enthusiastic involvement of all four undergraduate programs — which ostensibly compete against one another — sends a rare and powerful message.”

That message speaks to the importance of the shared commitment to both students and workers, Joy said.

“The graduates of our programs literally save lives and positively impact hundreds of thousands of Utahns and they’re rewarded with meaningful, fulfilling careers,” Joy said.

Alongside Weber State University, Brigham Young University, the University of Utah and Utah State University have signed on to the partnership.

“This is an honorable profession focusing on workers’ health and safety,” said Steven Thygerson, professor of the department of public health and environmental and occupational health at BYU. “It is very important for the universities and other OESH professional organizations to be united in our efforts to provide the best worker health and safety possible.”

Thygerson said many students with a bachelor’s degree start at six figure salaries, working in both the public and private sector in a variety of companies and jobs.

“Our united efforts also bring companies, families and friends to the knowledge of how important worker health and safety is,” he said. “Even if our efforts don’t increase enrollment at the university programs, we are still educating the public about OEHS.”

Justin Thygerson, occupational and environmental health and safety program director and assistant professor at WSU, said the university got involved because university, community and government leaders saw a need to establish a dedicated undergraduate OEHS program to give better access to students looking for careers that help the community that they live in by preventing workplace injuries and illnesses.

“It’s a win-win for all involved,” he said. “Every year over 5,000 employees lose their lives due to workplace injuries and illnesses and over one million workers are injured on the job. OEHS professionals are educated and trained to help reduce those numbers. OEHS professionals are in every industry helping to keep their fellow employees safe from injuries and illnesses. They do this by assessing, identifying, evaluating and developing controls to prevent exposures to hazards such as noise, chemicals, heat, radiation and other occupational exposures.”

Matthew S. Thiese — a tenured professor at the U of U school of medicine in occupational and environmental health, chief operating officer for the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and director of the occupational injury prevention training program — said some of the careers in the industry include industrial hygienists, who assess and mitigate workplace hazards such as chemical exposure and noise, occupational health nurses, who provide health care services and education to workers, and ergonomists, who design workstations and practices to reduce musculoskeletal injuries.

“Other careers include environmental health specialists, who focus on minimizing environmental risks that can impact worker health, and occupational epidemiologists, who conduct research to understand and prevent workplace-related illnesses and injuries,” he said. “Safety consultants also play a key role by advising companies on best practices and helping to develop effective safety programs. Each of these roles contributes uniquely to creating safer and healthier workplaces.”

Thiese said some high-risk occupations include firefighters, commercial truck drivers, construction workers, health care workers, miners and industrial workers.

“The collaborative effort is vital because it provides students with diverse educational pathways tailored to their interests within the OEHS field,” he said. “By leveraging the strength of all four universities, we can offer comprehensive training that prepares students to meet the growing demand for qualified professionals in this area.”

A significant outcome of this collaboration is the development of the undergraduate pathways program, Thiese said. The program offers students multiple avenues to pursue careers in occupational and environmental health and safety.

“A career in occupational and environmental health is incredibly rewarding because it focuses on making workplaces safer, healthier and more sustainable, ultimately improving the quality of life for workers and their families as well as helping businesses be more competitive,” he said. “The field is crucial to public health, as most people spend a significant portion of their lives at work, and ensuring that work environments are free from hazards can help prevent injuries, illnesses and long-term health issues. By addressing these challenges, we contribute to the overall health and well-being of entire communities, creating a ripple effect that extends far beyond the workplace.”

Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health conducts cutting-edge studies on occupational hazards in high-risk professions, trains future leaders to improve workplace safety in high-risk occupations and provides solutions for equipment design and workplace practices to prevent injuries as well as focusing on prevention strategies for occupational cancers and chronic diseases.

“First and foremost, we are a resource for the community, dedicated to improving the health and safety of workers while also helping businesses thrive. Our work isn’t limited to academic research. It’s about making a tangible difference for individuals and organizations in the Intermountain West and beyond,” Thiese said. “One of our primary goals is to help businesses become more competitive by creating safer, healthier work environments. Healthier workers are more productive, and safer workplaces reduce costs associated with injuries and illnesses.”

John A. Flores II, principal lecturer of public health with an emphasis in industrial hygiene in the department of biology at USU, said within any community of workers, whether it be in private industry, federal, state or city government, there is a need to manage risks that lead to injury or illness, and that in a nutshell is what the occupational and environmental health and safety profession does.

“It partners with workers, management and engineering to prevent workplace injuries or illnesses,” he said. “We do that by identifying risk and potential exposures, by evaluating them through measuring techniques to determine levels of exposure. Once exposure can be characterized, we can determine if that exposure needs control to prevent the opportunity for injury or illness.”

The art of industrial hygiene is more than looking at workplace exposures that lead immediately to injury or disease, Flores said, but what are those chronic exposures that will lead to injury or illness 10, 20, 40 years down the road?

“Industrial health is a lot about what we can manage today, so when workers get to the end of their career, when they walk away, we do our part to ensure that they worked in an environment that allows them to retire in a healthy and injury free state. If we truly believe in making the workplace a safe place to work, where we manage exposures to prevent disease so workers have the opportunity to be healthy, well then, fostering this partnership to provide professionals dedicated to doing that will be a great success in choosing to work together in this common goal.”