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Daily, countless employees throughout Washington state are injured at work. Some even lose their lives. Numerous sectors that have defined the state — forestry, fishing, agriculture — are fraught with danger.

For many years, the University of Washington has been pivotal in the state’s initiatives to safeguard workers. UW professionals examine workplace dangers such as the toxic gases inhaled by nail salon staff and the rising heat waves impacting agricultural laborers on the eastern side of the Cascades. The UW’s educational and training programs, spanning from undergraduate studies to ongoing education for industry experts, equip participants to manage health and safety protocols for enterprises throughout the state. UW specialists collaborate with companies to ensure worker safety and maintain high productivity. Additionally, a collaboration between the School of Public Health and UW Medicine offers specialized assistance to injured workers.

“The health and safety of workers is a crucial aspect of what the University of Washington engages in,” stated Marissa Baker, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at UW.

However, these endeavors are currently at risk. This year, the federal government has significantly reduced the funding for worker safety programs such as those at UW. In April, the Trump administration cut the workforce of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the federal organization focused on worker safety. The agency has terminated nearly all its research and training initiatives, leading to uncertainty regarding the future of funding.

NIOSH has been a vital source of funding for UW’s research and training programs in occupational health and safety, complementing the essential funds from the state. Without federal backing, much of this work will come to a halt. This implies a decrease in research on the dangers workers encounter and fewer trained individuals to handle those risks and address workplace injuries and illnesses.

In the end, Baker is concerned that employees throughout Washington will face the repercussions.

“I worry that if the reductions to NIOSH persist and the work we’re conducting here at the University of Washington ceases, the number of workers injured or who die in Washington will increase,” Baker remarked.

Federal funding sustains the UW Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (NWCOHS), which prepares graduate students for careers in occupational health and safety and offers ongoing education for industry professionals. The NWCOHS meets the demand for experts in occupational medicine by providing training programs for physicians.

Trainees operate out of specialty clinics, including the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, which cares for patients injured on the job. Physicians at the clinic learn how to correlate workplace exposures with patients’ health outcomes and develop treatment strategies to assist workers in recovering and safely returning to their roles.

“It’s a distinct blend of medicine and public health. We focus on individual patients who are before us, while also considering how to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses for groups of workers,” stated Dr. June Spector, research associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and former director of the occupational & environmental medicine program at UW. “The objective is for workers and patients to be healthy and derive satisfaction from their work, which frequently contributes to a healthy and productive workplace.”

The advantages are not merely theoretical — the UW’s efforts in occupational health and safety have directly resulted in enhanced working conditions for some of the state’s most vital workers.

Take into account the forestry and agricultural workers, who encounter elevated rates of workplace injuries and fatalities. For decades, the UW’s Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH) has received federal support through a NIOSH program concentrating specifically on agricultural workers’ health and safety. PNASH experts have forged strong connections throughout the state, collaborating with community members and industry stakeholders to create safer, more resilient workplaces.

Recently, PNASH researchers discovered that workers responsible for applying pesticides weren’t always properly utilizing their protective gear and were frequently exposed to these hazardous substances. Researchers leveraged community and industry relationships to better comprehend the obstacles. They then set out to implement solutions.

PNASH devised effective training that enables pesticide applicators to observe how the sprays move through the atmosphere by employing a fluorescent tracer that illuminates on clothing or skin. They investigated how workers typically administer pesticides and recommended innovative techniques that assured the chemicals reached their intended targets without drifting onto workers. Additionally, they developed resources to reinterpret the warning labels on pesticide containers, which were primarily in English, into Spanish, the main language spoken by numerous farm laborers. 

The resultant pesticide safety toolkit, created in partnership with farmers, educators, and researchers throughout the state, aims to benefit both workers and their employers. 

“A distinctive role we hold at the UW is the capacity to hear from those who cannot individually reach out to their employer or contact the state, and to genuinely amplify their voices,” stated Elena Austin, a UW assistant professor specializing in environmental & occupational health sciences whose research centers on safeguarding agricultural workers. “We collaborate with a diverse array of partners to effectively engage these essential workers who cultivate our food and fish in perilous conditions, and to comprehend how we can relay actionable, significant, and feasible information back to them.” 

NIOSH funding makes this endeavor feasible. However, the White House has suggested abolishing all federal financial support for agricultural worker health and safety, putting the funding for PNASH at risk. Leaders are seeking alternative funding sources to maintain the center’s vital services. 

“We are extremely concerned about this abrupt shift in federal priority and the scarcity of resources dedicated to health and safety research,” Austin remarked. “We are particularly worried about our region, fearing that our workers will suffer and our businesses will have to absorb the costs.” 

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