The Occupational Health Division, directed by Howard M. Kipen, MD, MPH , studies the complex interrelation between health and work and provides a comprehensive program to prevent work-related illnesses. Responding to the needs of employees, employers, and the state, staff are currently engaged in teaching, research, and service programs in the areas of occupational and environmental medicine, medical surveillance, stress management, and occupational epidemiology. Specific projects include occupational health surveillance of hazardous waste workers, assessment of innovative approaches to controlling workplace stress, and development of improved techniques to monitor workers exposed to chemical and physical agents. The division's Environmental and Occupational Health Clinical Center evaluates patients for a variety of exposures in the hme, community, and workplace.
Special emphasis is given to the investigation of new environmental and occupational diseases.
The division's postgraduate residency training program in occupational and environmental medicine is one of only thirty such programs nationwide.