SALT LAKE CITY鈥擳he University of Utah's Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (), the first statutorily established occupational health center in the United States, has topped the nation and won a $6.55 million, five-year grant from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to train graduate students and conduct research in occupational safety and health. The RMCOEH achieved a rare, perfect score of "10" from a national panel of 29 OSH professionals, and in so doing topped other major competing centers.
A primary goal of the RMCOEH is to train professionals to prevent workplace accidents and injuries.
The RMCOEH will use the grant to: utah
- Increase the size of the academic programs
- Utilize research projects for student experiences
- Further grow research programs
- Develop additional distance-based education programs
The RMCOEH is partially funded by this grant, the largest training grant at the University of Utah, and has training programs in: ergonomics and safety, hazardous substances training, industrial hygiene, occupational injury prevention, occupational medicine, and continuing education. The RMCOEH's programs involve the Departments of Family & Preventive Medicine, Mechanical Engineering, Internal Medicine and Economics.
"The Rocky Mountain Center is developing the most advanced occupational safety and health programs in the US, including having developed two masters programs and a new Ph.D. program in the past five years," says Kurt T. Hegmann, M.D., M.P.H., professor and RMCOEH center director. "We look forward to achieving our goals over the coming five years, including increasing distance education to further impact every Utah business."
The grant reviewers also recognized the Center for its outstanding advisory board comprising leaders in occupational safety and health in the community.