Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Adds, Ergo Center Name Changes

Like the Texas A&M University School of Public Health, the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health has seen unprecedented growth in students, faculty and scholarly contributions in recent years. Two recent changes highlight this growth and the department’s prospects for the future: its new presence at Texas A&M University-San Antonio and the renaming of the Ergo Center to the Center for Occupational Health from Aug. 1.

“Both of these efforts represent our expansion, and that is very exciting,” said Dr. Mark Benden, department head and center manager.

Three SPH departments are now at Texas A&M-San Antonio: assistant professor Dr. Kaysey Aguilar, and assistant professors Dr. Garrett Sansom and Dr. Lindsay Sansom.

Back at the airport in College Station, Benden and others are excited that the center will reflect its full scope and purpose—and change the way public health officials approach it. workers’ health. Benden said that when the center opened in 1996, the public health department saw employees based on their time on the job, and that has changed a lot.

He said: “When I started my job 30 years ago, we saw workers following a Monday to Friday, 8 to 5 and we focused on increasing measures to protect them. at work,” he said. “Today, we see them as a whole – 24/7 – and we not only look at all the factors that can affect their health, but also look at the company’s products: how they are made, what materials are used , the way they get it is used and the way they throw it.

Additionally, the center’s project manager Martha Parker notes that many people may relate more to the concept of worker health than to ergonomics (the study of people in their workplace with the aim of designing tools and methods that reduce harm and discomfort).

People ask me what I do, and when I say I’m an ergonomist, they don’t know what to think,” he said. “I don’t say I help people do their jobs without harming themselves. , they understand it more, but it’s still unclear. Then I explain, and they say, ‘Oh! I need you to come to work because my back hurts!’ So the name not only changes well for the work we have been doing, but it will save us a lot of time to explain who we are and how we help people.”

Other changes in the field – particularly technological advances and an increasing focus on interdisciplinary and collaborative work within Texas A&M departments – have also led to the growth and development of the institution. Although all the specialists of the center are focused on the health of the workers, not all of them approach it from an ergonomic point of view, for example, and the center also brings colleagues from other departments of the School of Public Health and across campus to handle complex projects.

“It’s one thing if we find a new way to keep the worker safe, but it’s an entirely different thing if our friends in law and public policy can help us make that law, Benden said. “Similarly, we do a lot of work in artificial intelligence with experts from our engineering program. We are fortunate at Texas A&M because we recognize the value that other people can bring to the table and appreciate the work of different levels – and now, we have an opportunity to emulate our peers across the public health profession across the country.”

Benden is also looking forward to further engagement with industry partners across the country and community – many of whom are proud former Department of Environment and Occupational Health graduates looking for opportunities to work with the EOH department and recruits Aggie students. In addition, Benden and others expect an increase in research funding.

“In the past, we focused on micro-grants and local support for industry-sponsored research, which were usually six months or a year and micro-grants, six,” he said. . “And while we don’t want to give up on these, as we build our industrial network and in-house expertise, I think our focus will shift to three-year major grants to to five and large or integrated industrial projects. where the whole industry comes together to study everything instead of one company trying to research one point. “

All of this will benefit students through the department’s paid jobs, internships and businesses and increase research opportunities, Benden said. In addition, an online master’s degree aimed at non-veteran students who are already working is in the works, as is a new complementary doctoral program already in place for of doctors. Although the exact timeline is uncertain, Benden said he is confident that the Ph.D. The program will run concurrently with a new online master’s degree in public health.

In short, said Parker, “ergonomics is about more than just having a fancy chair. All workers need us—they don’t know they need us. And now our name reflects that.”