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Podcast explores topics of health and productivity at sea & dockside |
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Newly launched: The Fishing Forward Podcast is a podcast for fishermen with a focus on health, safety and “staying shipshape” in the commercial fishing industry. The podcast posts new episodes every two weeks through 2022. Each episode focuses on a topic relevant to modern-day fishermen’s wellbeing, including sleep deprivation, crew retention and managing stress amidst chronic uncertainty. |
Wellness strategies and solutions are always a part of each podcast. Interviews include fishermen from all active fishing regions in the United States as well as health specialists and scientists whose work applies to the real-life, everyday challenges—and benefits—of working in commercial fishing. Fishing Forward is a project of the Northeast Center with the Coastal Routes Radio team at the University of Guelph with collaboration from a large suite of partners (at right). Learn more. |
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Meet Our Hosts |
 | Host Hannah Harrison grew up in the fishing community of Homer, Alaska. She has a PhD in Ecology and Natural Resource Management and is the science director for the Coastal Routes project. As a human ecologist, Harrison’s work focuses on the social aspects of fisheries, such as user group conflicts and livelihoods that support sustainable seafood and regional food security. |
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|  | Host Philip Loring is an anthropologist and storyteller who holds the Arrell Chair in Food, Policy, and Society at the University of Guelph, where he is an assistant professor. He founded Coastal Routes in 2018 to connect coastal communities and people innovating in the face of rapid coastal change. He conducts research and has partnerships in coastal regions of the US and Canada. |
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Professional Logging Contractors honors Northeast Center |
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Northeast Center Deputy Director Erika Scott with PLC Executive Director Dana Doran |
The Professional Logging Contractors of Maine (PLC) recently honored the Northeast Center with its Supporting Member Award for demonstrating an "unprecedented commitment to logging contractors in Maine." “Supporting loggers through health research and practice has been a critical mission for us,” said Deputy Director Erika Scott, who attended the annual award ceremony. “We have begun to make significant strides in recent years and owe much of that success to the community partnerships we have developed.” Other PLC awards and recipients included:
Impact Awards— U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, U.S. Congressman Jared Golden and Maine State Sen. Russell Black of Wilton; Logger of the Year Award—Thomas Logging and Forestry of Guilford; Community Service Award—Brian Souers, President of Treeline Inc.; and President’s Award—Jim Nicols of Nicols Brothers Inc. Learn more about our Maine Logger’s Health and Safety Study and companion Maine logger “photovoice” food documentary project. |
Explore: 2021 in ReviewAnother year of pandemic did not seem to slow our staff down. Read about our strides toward supporting health and safety in agriculture, forestry and fishing in our 31-page Year in Review. View online or contact us to request a print copy. |
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| Pilot Project: Improving slip-resistant footwearDr. Shagahyegh Bagheri, Assistant Professor at the George Mason University in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is using a grant from the Northeast Center to help in the development of slip-resistant footwear using novel composite materials. |
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Dr. Bagheri is looking to test the prototype this summer at the KITE Institute, where the Rate My Treads’ lab setting recreates real-world environments and slip hazards to test footwear. Her project aim is to help prevent fall-related injuries for workers exposed to outdoor winter conditions through development of slip-resistant footwear. Her contributions to date have been summarized in one patent pending, five conference proceedings, six published peer-review journal articles and several media interviews. |
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Safety specialist brings new skills to benefit farmworkers’ long-term health |
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Anna Meyerhoff (far right) jogs with farmworkers during their respirator fit test. Bilingual farm safety educator Anna Meyerhoff recently earned an Industrial Hygiene Safety & Health Specialist certificate from the OSHA Training Institute Education Center at Keene State College. The program included courses on topics such as transitioning to safer chemicals, respiratory protection and ergonomics. “Industrial hygiene looks at exposures that can cause long-term disease and discomfort. Instead of only focusing on immediate hazards and injury prevention, it includes long-term worker health and well-being in the conversation,” says Meyerhoff. Anna spends most of her workdays at farms: conducting safety trainings, CPR and first aid classes, and respirator fit testing, often in Spanish. In 2021, she conducted 224 trainings to nearly 2,000 workers. |
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Respirator Fit Testing ClinicsOur upcoming clinics provide medical evaluations, respirator fit tests and WPS compliant trainings to agricultural workers whose work includes tasks that require the use of a respirator. Training includes how to properly inspect, put on, take off, fit, seal check, use, clean, maintain and store respirators. Appointments are one-hour long. Up to four workers can be seen at the same time. Medical evaluations, fit tests and trainings are available in both English and Spanish. Cost is $65 per person. To schedule fit testing for yourself or your employees, contact us at 800-343-7527 or FitTest@bassett.org. |
March 15 & 16 — Suffolk County, NY March 17 — Ulster County, NY April 7 — Orleans County, NY April 8 — Niagara County, NY April 25 & 26 — Orange County, NY |
| May 2 — Warren County, NY May 3 — Albany County, NY May 12 — Ontario County, NY May 13 — Yates County, NY |
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Milestone: 23,000 copies distributed |
| COVID-19 educational booklet for Plain community |
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In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania nurse safety educator Kay Moyer wasted no time developing a 51-page youth activity booklet for Plain community members about COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. The project was funded with a small grant from the Northeast Center. To date, Moyer has distributed close to 23,000 booklets, primarily to Mennonite communities. |
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Welcome: New Staff |
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Clockwise, from top left: Andrew Demma, Research Coordinator; Kayla Johnson, Research Assistant; Kevin Luschen, Research Coordinator; Lucinda Levene, Administrative Research Coordinator |
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Join Our Team |
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Upcoming EventsMarch 28-30: North American Agricultural Safety Summit. Director Julie Sorensen co-presents on “The global future of ag production: our role in international collaborations from an agricultural safety & health perspective.” May 3-5, Northeast Ag Safety and Health Coalition annual meeting, Cooperstown, NY. Learn more about joining the Northeast Center’s professional development and networking program for farm safety and health educators. May 16-17: Northeast Occupational Health Network (NeON) meeting (virtual). Deputy Director Erika Scott presenting “Using machine learning techniques to supplement occupational injury surveillance for undercounted industries" |
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Publications Scott, E, Hirabayashi, L, Graham, J, Krupa, N, Jenkins, P. Not Quite Out of the Woods, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine: March 2022 - Volume 64 - Issue 3 - p 236-242 Graham J, Scott E, Tinc P, Hirabayashi L. The modern gut-hammer: Understanding the eating habits of loggers through Photovoice. Appetite 2022;171:105882. Scribani MB, Tinc PJ, Scott EE, Sorensen JA, Tallman NH, Gadomski AM. Evaluating the evolution of social networks: A ten-year longitudinal analysis of an agricultural, fishing and forestry occupational health research center. Int J Environ. 2021;18:12889. |
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 | Copyright (C) 2022 The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety. All rights reserved.
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