About the Johns Hopkins ERC

Work-related injuries and illnesses have a significant public health impact, and part of NIOSH’s mission is to train the next generation of occupational safety and health (OSH) practitioners and researchers. The National Assessment of the Occupational Safety and Health Workforce (released in 2011) documents a significant shortfall in the supply of trained OSH professionals to meet current and future demand in the United States. The report provides evidence of the continued need to support OSH training and education in the core and allied OSH disciplines.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 mandates that NIOSH provide an adequate supply of qualified personnel to carry out the purposes of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. NIOSH ERCs have a key role in helping meet this mandate and contribute to the Institute’s core mission of providing national and world leadership to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses.

The purpose of this program is to support NIOSH ERCs to address the burden of OSH in the United States by providing state-of-the-art interdisciplinary training for the next generation of OSH practitioners and researchers. ERCs play a significant role in preparing the future OSH workforce to respond to new challenges posed by the changing nature of work. These changes are the result of technological advances, globalization, new and emerging risks, occupational health disparities associated with the changing demographics of the US workforce, and a myriad of other factors. NIOSH’s network of ERCs across the United States helps address these challenges and provide the next generation of OSH leadership to protect workers and ensure a healthier national workforce. The ERCs provide well-trained graduates to meet the demand for a professional OSH workforce for federal, state, and local government agencies; not-for-profit agencies; industry; academia; business; healthcare; and labor organizations. ERCs help meet our nation’s need for skilled, knowledgeable practitioners and researchers in OSH and enhance the diversity of the safety and health workforce.

NIOSH ERCs help translate scientific discoveries into practice through effective education, training, and outreach. ERC trainees and key personnel collaborate with stakeholders to develop innovative approaches to improving workplace safety and health, by the translation of research to practice and prevention through design. Links to the ERCs currently funded by NIOSH are provided below under the center description.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Occupational Safety and Health is a multidisciplinary and interdepartmental program whose objective is to prepare professionals in the field of occupational and environmental safety and health in the areas of research, education, service and policy development. The center includes five academic programs that comprise the Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center (ERC) for Occupational Safety and Health:  occupational and environmental hygiene, occupational and environmental medicine, occupational and environmental health nursing, biomarkers of exposure and susceptibility, occupational injury epidemiology and prevention, and continuing education and outreach.

The ERC is designed to serve as a regional resource for occupational and environmental safety and health professionals and is located in the Departments of Environmental Health & Engineering and Health Policy & Management of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Additionally, the programs integrate the resources of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the School of Engineering, and the School of Nursing. The ERC offers graduate degree programs, both master’s and doctoral, as well as continuing education in occupational and environmental health.