Bassett Healthcare receives funding for occupational health and safety initiatives

Associate – The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has announced the renewal of support for Bassett Healthcare Network’s Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (NEC) for an additional five years.

These funds were used by the organization in By 2027, it will ensure that the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry continues its mission to improve the safety and health of workers by researching solutions to prevent and treat occupational injuries and illnesses.

“This is welcome news at the NEC,” said NEC Director Julie Sorensen. “Our team has spent years gathering data, working with the community to identify their health and safety priorities, looking at gaps in research and determining which methods best meet their needs. This is reflected in their continued investment in our research and support for workers and industries in the North East over the coming years. Thank you for the vote of confidence in NIOSH.

The National Election Board has been serving agricultural businesses and workers since its inception in the early 1990s. It carries out its mission through research, service, education and clinical consultation. Through its regional projects, NEC studies health and safety challenges faced by members of the agricultural community and conducts research to propose, test and implement workplace solutions. In New York State, these research solutions are shared with farmers and complement essential state-based resources and services such as the provision of safety equipment, training, respiratory fitness testing and mobile vaccination clinics.

When NEC received NIOSH funding in 1992, it allowed the center to expand its mission by supporting research and the forestry and fishing industries, as well as agriculture. It also expanded the center’s reach to include twelve northeastern states (from Maine to Maryland). NIOSH provides the majority of NEC’s research funding, although it receives significant funding and support from other sources.

“Research is a very important part of what makes our center successful,” says Sorensen. “Whether we can provide technical support, training or tools, the workplace is constantly changing. That means we must continually identify new and improved user-friendly, evidence-based solutions. This requires a commitment to understanding the problem and looking at the best from multiple perspectives.”

The Northeast Center (NEC) addresses occupational health and safety issues facing workers in the high-risk agriculture, forestry and fishing (AgFF) industries. It operates in twelve states from Maine to West Virginia. It is closely affiliated with New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) and Bassett Healthcare Network, all based out of Cooperstown.

It also has frequent partnerships with other research, education, and occupational health institutions, including the following universities: Pennsylvania State, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, George Mason, and the University of Delaware, and cooperative extension programs throughout the Northeast.

Bassett Health Care Network is an integrated health system that provides care and services to people living in a 5,600 square mile area of ​​upstate New York. The organization includes five corporate-affiliated hospitals, more than two dozen community health centers, more than 20 school-based health centers, two skilled nursing facilities, and other health partners.