California has had its share of natural disasters, but the State became acutely aware of another, more insidious type of threat in the late 1970s, when workers who had been making the pesticide DBCP were told that they were sterile. Concerned that California lacked the knowledge and the trained professionals it needed to protect people from work‑related hazards, the State passed legislation in 1978 mandating the University to establish teaching, research, and service centers in Northern and Southern California. The Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH) and its sister centers at Los Angeles and Irvine serve government, industry, schools, health professionals, and the general public through programs and partnerships designed to deepen understanding of occupational and environmental hazards and to prevent disease, fatalities, and injuries. Activities are grounded in multi‑campus, multidisciplinary teaching programs in medicine, nursing, public health, and related fields which:
• Educate future leaders in occupational and environmental health
• Develop new knowledge
• Bring the resources of the University of California to the public
Educating Students for the Real World of
Occupational and Environmental Health:
Protecting health and ensuring safety on the job and in the community is a persistent national problem. The workplace statistics alone are stark: Every day an average of 10,000 U.S. workers sustain injuries on the job, 15 workers die from a workplace injury, and more than 100 die from work‑related illness. That’s over 60,000 lives lost annually, and more than two million disabling work injuries each year, costing an estimated $156 billion annually in direct and indirect costs. Still, the U.S. lacks health care professionals with expertise in occupational and environmental health. COEH helps address this shortage by training occupational and environmental health specialists for careers in industry,labor, universities, and government. From Basic Laboratory Research to Applied Field Research:
Whether they are probing a single cell or surveying an entire population, COEH researchers have two goals in mind: to prevent injuries and disease in the workplace and to solve critical health problems in our communities. Interdisciplinary collaboration has been the key to powerful results. Bridge to the Public:
At its inception, COEH made a commitment to deliver university services directly to the public. This is accomplished through a labor and community education program, a continuing professional education program, consulting and clinical services. Find out more at http://coeh.berkeley.edu
