Foresight Friday Webinar Series

About

The webinar series expands strategic foresight capacity in occupational safety and health. The series engages an interdisciplinary audience of researchers, practitioners, and other subject matter experts. Participants share resources, support, and best practices for using foresight to advance occupational safety and health research, service, and practice.

Upcoming Foresight Friday @ NIOSH

October 11, 2024 11 AM ET

Exploring the Future of Occupational Safety Research

Rapid changes associated with the arrival of the future of work, along with a proposed expansion of occupational safety and health paradigms, raise important questions about the future of occupational safety research. This presentation will describe a forward-facing strategic foresight project that proactively investigated how the long-term future of safety research might be different from the approaches we take today. Data from a systematic resource scan, a series of key informant interviews, and an expert workshop were synthesized into six theme-based drivers of change. Using these drivers, four unique scenarios were constructed to articulate how alternative futures could impact the conduct of safety research in unique and meaningful ways. Analysis of these evidence-based stories identified opportunities for strategic action to enhance and advance safety research methods, innovation, systems thinking, networking, and scientific ethics as we move into the future.

Featured Speakers:

Sarah A. Felknor, MS, DrPH, is Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Director of the Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (SWCOEH). Dr. Felknor has over 35 years of experience in occupational safety and health (OSH) research, training, and service in the U.S. and internationally, and over 12 years of experience as a senior executive in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) where she directed the integration of research portfolios to reduce the risk of worker injuries, illnesses and fatalities through basic and applied research. Her international work in OSH earned her the NIH Director’s Award for excellence in global environmental and occupational research training. She served as Chair of the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors and Chair of the NIOSH Workforce Needs Assessment Task Force. Her recent work has focused on developing strategies and tools to anticipate the occupational health challenges in the future of work and explore the need for an expanded focus for OSH through a futures-oriented approach to planning and action.

Jessica MK Streit, PhD, MS, CHES^®, is Deputy Director of the Office of Research Integration in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). As the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Scientific Program Official, she is responsible for the scientific administration of intramural research at NIOSH. Jessica also leads the NIOSH Strategic Foresight Initiative, a futures-focused service within the Office of the Director that seeks to explore how unfolding changes may impact near-, mid-, and long-term approaches to occupational safety and health. Jessica has coauthored a variety of publications examining both work-related hazards and opportunities to advance worker safety, health, and well-being today and in the future. Her background is an interdisciplinary mix of psychology, statistics, and health education. She also holds professional certificates in community health and strategic foresight.

Past Foresight Friday @ NIOSH

To view past webinars, please visit the Foresight Friday @ NIOSH YouTube playlist.

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Contacts

Please direct any questions about Foresight Friday @ NIOSH to the NIOSH Office of Research Integration (ORI@cdc.gov).