Public lecture: Safe patient handling: Highlights of current research and U.S. public policy efforts to improve safety

October 27, 2016

Dr. Laura Punnett, professor of occupational epidemiology and ergonomics in the College of Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, delivered a special public lecture as part of the Hallman Lecture Series at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Punnett discussed the findings of a recently concluded longitudinal study in long-term care centres in the United States to evaluate a safe resident handling program. The study also examined the overlap between program effectiveness and other outcomes, including health associated with job stressors, worker and resident wellbeing. View the slide presentation and the presentation video

Dr. Punnett has 30 years of experience studying the effects of the work environment on musculoskeletal disorders and other health outcomes, methods for assessing ergonomic exposures in the workplace, the influence of working conditions on socioeconomic and gender disparities in health, and factors influencing the effectiveness of workplace programs to improve worker health and safety. She is Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPHNEW), one of the NIOSH Total Worker Health® Centers of Excellence.