Occupational Health and Safety Research Group

The Occupational Health and Safety research team is interested in the prevention and management of work-related injuries and illnesses. We are particularly interested studying workplace interventions to prevent injuries and disability. Our team is currently working on four projects funded by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the National Institutes of Health.

These projects include:

1. An ongoing prospective study of carpal tunnel syndrome and other upper extremity disorders among 1107 newly hired workers

    in a variety of local industries (PrediCTS Study).

2. Evaluation of an educational intervention to decrease risk of falls among apprentice carpenters (Falls Study).

3. A study of lower extremity biomechanical exposures among construction workers in Boston and St. Louis, and the role of these

    exposures in causing chronic knee disorders (Knee Study).

4. A study of welding exposures as a risk factor for Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism.

5. A study to promote smoking cessation in construction trade workers using targeted health communication strategies

    (Smoking Cessation Study).

6. A study to implement and evaluate a participatory ergonomics intervention directed at reducing high risk physical exposures in three

    construction trades - carpenters, floor layers, and sheet metal workers. (Participatory Ergonomics Study).

Our work requires interacting with healthy and injured workers at their worksites to collect information on biomechanical exposures and to perform physical examinations and interviews. Assessment of health outcomes and of workplace physical exposures are important aspects of our work in musculoskeletal disease epidemiology.