Maryland Occupational Health and Safety Surveillance Project

Maryland Department of Health FOA: PAR-20-312 State Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance Surveillance Program (U60) Maryland Title: Maryland Occupational Health and Safety Surveillance Project CFDA: 93.262 1. SPECIFIC AIMS In this proposal, the Maryland Occupational Health and Safety Surveillance project of the Maryland Department of Health (OHSSP) builds on the success of the prior projects, which have demonstrated the feasibility and utility of incorporating industry and occupation in various existing state surveillance systems, provided data on injury and illness through existing occupational health indicators, and identified important gaps in occupational safety and health data in specific worker populations (notably, migrant workers). The new proposal focuses on this underserved population with an innovative approach that looks at an important health condition (asthma) in its totality, seeking opportunities to pair existing health department activities on home visiting and asthma trigger reduction with a new complementary approach to employers to identify and reduce triggers in the workers’ occupational and home environments as a continuum. Finally, the new proposal includes and expanded project that builds on work from the previous project period, to address the state’s opioid crisis as it occurs in Maryland workplaces, with an innovative project that is developing toolkits for employers and other stakeholders to improve management of opioids in Maryland workplaces. The current proposal advances that work, completing the toolkits, conducting outreach and technical assistance to implement the toolkits throughout the State, and an evaluation of the impacts of the toolkits on workplace policies and management practices. The specific aims of the project are: 1. Advance occupational epidemiology public health research in occupational health through continued production of existing OHIs from existing sources of data and expansion of data sources; 2. Broaden the utility of other state surveillance systems by the inclusion of industry and occupation in the Maryland Violent Death Reporting System (MVDRS), the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System, the Maryland Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) and/or electronic health records; 3. Enhance the use of data to inform prevention activities in MDH and external stakeholders through increased outreach and prevention activities; and 4. Provide focus on improvement of respiratory disease in migrant workers through an innovative collaboration with local health departments, employers, and health care providers, focused on the worker’s total environment. 5. Improve surveillance of opioids in the workplace through the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS), and the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (“ESSENCE”); 6. Based on stakeholder input, develop toolkits on improving opioids management in Maryland workplaces; 7. Recruit employers and workplaces in which to implement and disseminate toolkits to improve opioids management in Maryland workplaces; and 8. Evaluate the effectiveness of the toolkits in altering policies and practices, shifting resources, and improving outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders who are in or entering the workplace.