First published on April 6, 2015 in observance of the COPH’s 30^th anniversary celebration.

Dr. Karen Liller has been a child and adolescent injury prevention researcher for a quarter of a century.  A professor in the USF College of Public Health’s Department of Community and Family Health and a member of the Florida Injury Prevention Advisory Group, she worked with a Tampa General program called More Health in the mid-1990s to help evaluate its health education programs.  One of those programs promoted bicycle helmets for children.

Dr. Karen Liller

“I evaluated their program, and I started observational studies of children’s bicycle helmet use in Hillsborough County,” Liller said.  “I was monitoring this because, as part of the Injury Group, I knew this bill had been denied two times before.  We were all part of the advocacy efforts with Tallahassee between the state of Florida program, More Health and the college to get this passed.”

A natural proponent of requiring kids to wear helmets when they rode their bikes, Liller had her interest piqued.  From casual observation alone, she surmised that few were.  Determined to put scientifically collected numbers to the problem, she and a cadre of her graduate students set about the task of collecting data.

From low expectations to high hopes, then action

“I was focused on unintentional injuries in children,” she said.  “Nationally, this was a huge issue.  I had some colleagues at Harborview Injury Prevention Program in the state of  Washington, and they were some of the early leaders nationally in helmet use.  So I naturally got very, very interested and started looking, started conducting observational studies, because I didn’t know:  What is the helmet use rate? “I developed and performed community observations,” she said.  “I would hire my grad assistants, and they would stand on corners doing observational surveys of kids in helmets.  We mapped out the whole county, and I had them on streets everywhere.  We had a whole protocol of where we wanted to be, because we wanted to capture observational surveys in many different places – in community sites, in schools, not near schools, etc., so we had a good idea of what was going on in Hillsborough County.”

As low as Liller’s expectations were, reality turned out to be even worse.

“I can tell you, it was pitifully low,” she said.  “For children under 16, it was about three percent.”

Liller set out on a concentrated campaign to get a helmet law passed.  It already had languished and died in two previous legislative sessions, and she was determined to make the third try count.

“I did many radio spots and TV spots and Good Morning Whomever promoting bicycle helmets as the law was working its way through the legislature,” she recalled.

“I wanted to get ahold of it,” she said, “because I knew this was a national issue, and I knew states were starting to pass laws.  Florida is a tough state to get a law passed for children’s injury prevention.  In fact, we just got the booster seat law done.  We were one of the last states to do that.  I knew it was going to be a battle.  So, I knew I’d better get started early.” Liller learned through focus groups that legislators weren’t the only people she needed to convince.  Some parents didn’t want a law telling them to put helmets on their kids’ heads.  After all, bicycle shops already were selling more helmets.  McDonald’s was giving out helmet discount coupons and safe rider certificates.  Why should there be a legal mandate?

“My answer to them was, ‘Do you have a driver’s license?  Yes?  Well, the government told you to do that.’

“It always surprised me when parents would argue with me on this issue.  The famous one for me was, ‘I rode a bike all the time when I was a kid, and I never got a head injury.’  I’d say, ‘When was that?  Where was that?’  And it would be some idyllic little community in some other state, and I’d say, ‘Try riding a bike in Tampa now, and get back to me on that.  The world has changed.  The roads have changed.  The danger level has changed.”

Clearly, the law’s chief proponent had taken on a daunting task, but being part of the state’s first college of public health had its rewards.  Dr. Charles Mahan, state health director under Gov. Lawton Chiles, was a valuable ally.  COPH was still the only school of public health in Florida, and COPH professors were trekking all the way to Tallahassee to teach weekly classes at the state health department office.  Through the department’s close working relationship with COPH, Mahan already had known Liller and had been supportive of her efforts.

Dr. Charles Mahan

“We knew that Karen was really focused on getting a child helmet law through, and certainly, we were very much in favor of that,” said Mahan, who was COPH dean by the time the measure was in its third incarnation.  Mahan had known Chiles since well before the latter began his two terms as governor.

When Mahan was a medical student at the University of Florida, Chiles became interested in his work on infant mortality.  Personal and professional bonds soon followed.

“When he was a senator, I would go around the country and hold hearings with him,” Mahan recalled.  “He would do all the talking, but I would help him figure out what to say, depending on what the issue was.”

Mahan knew the governor well enough to know he was predisposed to children’s health issues.

“Any issue related to children was something that Gov. and Mrs. Chiles were supportive of,” Mahan said.  “Anything that needed his support on children’s issues for safety or survival or whatever, he would tell the staff – me and everyone else – to make sure that it got supported.” With the encouragement of a popular governor, the proposal was gaining momentum.  The awareness raised by the news of the pending legislation helped engender educational outreaches that helped the ball roll faster.

“Betty Castor, who became president of USF, was head of education at the time,” Mahan said, “and the school systems jumped right in with educational efforts.”

Those collective efforts eventually generated the irresistible momentum that carried the measure over the finish line.

“With Charlie’s support and the governor’s, on the third attempt, it was successful,” Liller said.  “And I testified and did a variety of things locally, as well, for the bill.  A colleague of mine also did a cost-effectiveness study, and he also testified with that in Tallahassee.  I think it was a combination of all of these things.  We kept sending the legislators our research findings, and with all the backing, eventually, in 1996, the bill passed.”

A victory not etched in stone

“Bike helmets are an investment we should make to ensure our children’s health and safety,” Chiles declared as he signed the bill onto law.

The measure became effective on Jan. 1, 1997, and for the next 12 months, it was easy for anyone to live with.  A violator would receive a warning and a bicycle safety brochure.  As of Jan. 1, 1998, however, that brochure was delivered with a $17 citation.  It was a light fine as fines go, and even it could be circumvented.

“After the first year, you could get a fine if the child was riding, was under the age of 16 and didn’t have a helmet on,” Liller said, “but you could get around that if you could show evidence of a bicycle helmet.”

That, of course, was only when the law was enforced, which, according to Liller, wasn’t – and still isn’t – very often.

“Police are very reluctant,” she said.  “I talk to them about how many tickets they’ve given, and usually the answer is ‘none,’ at least in Hillsborough County.  They’re very reluctant to stop a child on a bike.”

Nonetheless, she said, by 1998, helmet use had risen exponentially, to 67 percent in Hillsborough County.  So even without much enforcement, the law was accomplishing its purpose.

“I think the law has been great,” Liller said.  “We did an analysis of its efficacy.  We did show that helmet use has gone up, and we showed that injuries have gone down.  And that was great.  That was the intent of the law.  Injury prevention does its best, many times, when there’s a policy change or a legislative change, because it just reaches more people.”

Mahan agreed. “Having it as law is a big awareness raiser,” he said.  “It gets all over the papers and the news again and again.  The legislature is considering this measure.  That’s news.  The legislature passed it today.  That’s news.  The governor signed it into law.  That’s news again.  It went into effect today, so that’s news, too.

“For the majority of parents, who care so much about their kids, just the awareness-raising and then seeing other kids out there with their helmets on helped, but it took time.  As with any legislation, it takes about three years to get a good idea through.  It’s very hard to take a new idea on regulation to the legislature.”

“It was a very exciting time,” Liller said, “because, the first couple of times, I would go to the injury meetings, we’d work on the language of the law, and it just kept getting defeated.  The first year we did it, I think we just put it out there and said, ‘Let’s just see how it goes.’  The second year, we didn’t have the information about the penalty.  I still don’t like the penalty.  I don’t to this day.  But it was a really exciting process, and I’m so glad I was part of it.”

Still, Liller knows that no law is etched in stone.  The state threw a scare into helmet proponents and safety advocates in general when it partially repealed its motorcycle helmet law by limiting the requirement to riders under 21. “We were very afraid that they were going to repeal the bicycle helmet law, too, but so far, so good,” Liller said.  “They haven’t touched that law.  I think that’s because it’s for children.  I think if we would have had that helmet law for all ages, we would have been in trouble.”

“When I was at the state health office,” Mahan said, “the helmet law was a big plus, but at the same time, we lost the motorcycle helmet law, and that’s had tremendous consequences.”

The work continues

“We want it to become a norm,” Liller said of bicycle helmet use.  “We want it to be that, when these children have children, there won’t be any question when you get on a bike.  And we’re starting to see that.”

Mahan concurred.  He said he and his wife live two blocks from an elementary school, and the progress is easily visible.

“A lot of the kids are riding their bikes to school,” he said, “and every one of them has a helmet on.”

Work since the law’s passage has been geared toward bicycle helmet give-away programs.

“If you don’t have a helmet, we can find you one,” Liller said.  “We can find a program – Safe Kids, Tampa General, we can find somewhere to get you a helmet.”

Liller’s work on the law continues to influence safety initiatives.

“Our work has been in world publications about helmet use, about laws, about how it’s done,” she said.  “The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation wants to know about strategies, and it seems that the strategies that were developed in the ’90s – people are still really interested in those.  We were always pleased that our work is often cited as an example, even though many years have passed.”

Liller said she also is gratified to see the lasting validation of her and her colleagues’ methodology.

“It’s interesting that the work that we did is still being used.  If you run a program, you do some observational surveys.  You look at that helmet use on those kids.  You don’t just ask them.  You actually watch them.”

In the intervening years, Liller’s focus has shifted to high school sports injuries, but she remains committed to the legislation she helped to bring about, and she remains engaged with it, most recently as a content reviewer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Wisconsin Population Health Institute for strategies they want to propose for child safety seats – and yes, bicycle helmets. Her message for the naysayers remains the same.

“We’re not telling children they can’t ride bikes,” she said.  “We’re not telling children they can’t have fun or anything else we were accused of so often.  Basically, it’s just taking necessary precautions.  There’s been some literature that says we should let kids take more risks.  We don’t want to stop anyone from taking risks or having fun or getting exercise.  We just don’t want a child to die from a perfectly preventable head injury.  We’re smarter now.”

Story by David Brothers, College of Public Health.  Photos courtesy of the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, Helmets On Heads, County Mayo and other sources.

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Following the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, many communities in Florida were faced with the daunting task of rebuilding after the second deadliest hurricane on record slammed into the state.

The USF SafetyFlorida Consultation Program, housed in the USF College of Public Health, initiated outreach efforts to these devastated regions under the direction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Region IV.

They sent a total of nine consultants—four of whom were bilingual—to support recovery efforts. The goal was to eliminate serious hazards, prevent injuries and reduce loss of life among contracting crews and the public.

The USF SafetyFlorida’s strategy involved a weekly rotation/deployment of two field consultants to the Ft. Myers, Sanibel, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Pine Island areas of Florida. After 100-plus safety and health interventions and training events, the team has returned.

“Anyone with a pickup truck and a ladder seemed to have materialized into a roofing, demolition or utility contractor,” said Dr. Brian Warrick, program director for the USF SafetyFlorida.  “We conferred with roofers, laborers, tree cutters, demolition crews and utility workers who were currently performing work in the area to determine if they were familiar with the hazards they might encounter.”

Some of those hazards, Warrick said, included heat stress, falls from a roof, insect bites, being struck by heavy equipment and handling debris.

“If they were not familiar with the hazards, USF SafetyFlorida provided training to ensure the appropriate controls were used,” he said.  “A perfect example was halting work during a roofing operation where the employees were not tied-off, which posed a significant risk for falling, until adequate controls—for example, a scaffold, scissor lift, boom lift, tie offs, ladders, guardrails and barricades—were in place.”

During the eight weeks that the team was deployed, more than 100 interventions and training events were conducted addressing the hazards for some 1,214 workers/contractors involved with debris collection and removal, demolition, roof repair, tree cutting and utility/power restoration. More than 1,000 (90 percent) of the contractors/workers had limited English proficiency.

While crews were initially apprehensive, Warrick said, they were receptive to the interventions.

“This type of safety outreach is vital not only to the recovery efforts, but to public health as well,” he said. “When we remove workers from these types of hazards, we help employers avoid huge OSHA penalties and fines, but, more importantly, we also help minimize the likelihood of a potential injury or fatality.”

Story by Thalia Barber, USF SafetyFlorida

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September is National Child Passenger Safety Month

Every 33 seconds, the National Safety Council (NSC) reports that a child in this country is involved in a car crash. Every nine days, another child dies from heat stroke in a car. And 66 children are killed annually in backup crashes. Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional injuries and deaths throughout childhood.

These are preventable deaths, says Amy Artuso, a USF College of Public Health graduate who is also a senior program manager and mobility expert with the National Safety Council. She is working as the program manager for a team of child passenger safety experts to form the National Digital Car Seat Check Form (NCDF). The team consists of experts from NSC, Tennessee Tech University iCube and Westat, a company that provides research services to the U.S. government.

The NCDF is a free resource to help child passenger safety technicians (CPST) digitally document car seat checks. Technicians can input data collected at car seat check events and then use that data to monitor trends and highlight issues encountered in the field. While the data collected is primarily used to inform CPSTs, child passenger safety programs and car seat and vehicle manufacturers, Artuso notes that these forms can contribute to the safer design and engineering of car seats and automobiles alike. 

Artuso, who earned her MPH from the COPH with a concentration in maternal and child health, and is now a third-year DrPH student at USF, first became interested in the use of a digital car seat safety check form after attending a 2016 child passenger safety conference. “There was clearly an interest among child passenger safety constituents for a digital check form for car seat checks while working with parents and caregivers,” Artuso says. “At that time, there was not one national standardized digital check form available for use by all U.S. certified CPSTs.”

Released in 2018, the NDCF tracks patterns from car seat safety events about how a car seat is being used and how it’s been installed in the vehicle. It also documents any instruction that was given to the family by the CPSTs, including information about leaving a child in a car seat or vehicle unattended and checking for car seat and vehicle recalls. The form also tracks how the car seat is positioned and secured in the vehicle at the end of the event.

As of the end of August, says Artuso, 85,236 check forms have been entered into the NDCF. The data entered into the NDCF depicts a 60% postnatal misuse rate—meaning 60% of car seats that have been checked by CPSTs and that children ride in are not used correctly. 

“Child passenger safety is similar to putting a puzzle together,” Artuso says. “Every child, vehicle and car seat/booster seat are different. Understanding how children fit in a vehicle with a federally approved child restraint improves that child’s safety during transportation.”

For anyone doubting whether they have installed a car seat properly or that their child is restrained correctly, Artuso notes support from specially trained child passenger safety technicians is available, often at no cost. And for families that cannot afford a car seat, community programs can provide child restraints at reduced or no cost so that children can leave a car seat check safer than when they arrived.

“By improving car seat and vehicle compatibility through a review of car seat check data, as well as organically eliminating common forms of misuse through improved product engineering, we may be able to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities that occur during motor vehicle crashes,” Artuso adds.  

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post Sixty percent of car seats are used improperly. Better data keeps kids safer appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Originally from Orlando, Fla., USF College of Public Health (COPH) alumna Samantha Thacker moved to Tampa, Fla., to pursue her dual undergraduate degrees in public health and health sciences in 2012.

“I was interested in public health after I heard how it focuses on health prevention rather than fixing health problems after they have already occurred,” she said. “I loved the idea of helping the population as a whole preserve their health instead of helping treat individual health problems.”

After earning her undergraduate degrees, Thacker spent a year working as a FedEx courier, delivering packages. It was a job that helped her realize all of the occupational hazards associated with the industry and ultimately piqued her interest in safety within a corporate environment.

In 2017, she decided to attend USF again to earn her MPH in occupational exposure science.

“My time spent in my undergrad and grad programs at the COPH were some of my favorite times in school,” she said. “The programs were comprehensive and really pushed us to see how what we were learning can translate into life outside of school.”

She said the faculty at the COPH also inspired her.

“The entire college was focused on helping students be passionate and proactive. The faculty helped us see all the good that can come from working in this field,” she said.

Thacker currently works as a safety engineer in a large Nissan vehicle manufacturing plant in Tennessee. She oversees a portion of the plant, investigating injuries, identifying hazards and working with different teams to create a safer work environment.

“I was attracted to my current role because of the fast pace and diverse operations within vehicle manufacturing,” she said. “There are so many different aspects of safety to learn and a large population of people to help in my role. It’s really cool!”

One of the most important things Thacker said she learned during her time in the COPH was to look for evidence-based solutions to problems and create realistic solutions that can be effective in practice.

“Being able to recognize what you don’t know and being confident in your knowledge is another invaluable skill I learned from the COPH,” she said. “I am never afraid to say when I am not sure and need to check on something. It is much easier to get back to people with correct information than it is to walk back incorrect information.”

Thacker said she eventually wants to find herself back in Tampa to be closer to family when the right safety opportunity presents itself.

“For now, I am focusing on learning all I can about the different processes and safety aspects within manufacturing at this large a scale,” she said.

COPH Alumni Fast Five

What did you dream of becoming when you were young?

 A doctor

Where would we find you on the weekend?

 Ideally, at a beach

What is the last book you read?

“Stay Close,” by Harlan Coben

What superpower would you like to have?

Teleportation—never commuting anywhere again!

What’s your all-time favorite movie?

Harry Potter!  Any and all of them!

Story by Caitlin Keough, USF College of Public Health

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Little is known about how employers implement guidelines that protect and promote the safety, health, and well-being of their workers, according to USF College of Public Health doctoral student Heidi Hudson.

Hudson, who is pursuing a doctor of public health degree in advanced practice leadership in public health, is lead author on the study, “An Exploratory, Qualitative Study of How Organizations Implement the Hierarchy of Controls Applied to Total Worker Health®,” published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The article is part of a special issue on Worker Safety, Health, and Well-being in the USA.

Hudson, who is a health scientist in the Division of Science Integration within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been with NIOSH since 2004. She also became a Commissioned Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service in 2008.

The study provides insight into how the principles of the Hierarchy of Controls Applied to NIOSH Total Worker Health(TWH HoC) guidelines have been implemented among employers featured as ‘Promising Practices for TWH.’

The TWH HoC emphasizes organizational-level interventions to protect workers’ safety, health, and well-being, according to the CDC. Some examples include restricting tobacco use, providing healthier lunch options, reducing work-related stress, and offering healthy movement policies to reduce sitting for long periods.

Hudson, who focused on work-related issues of fatigue, stress, sedentary work, and tobacco control, identified how and what impacted the implementation of TWH HoC guidelines among organizations to address those work issues.

“The TWH HoC is a conceptual model designed to aid employers and other professionals interested in implementing workplace safety and health programs aligned with TWH approaches,” Hudson said. “After reviewing articles that featured organizations applying TWH principles, we selected organizations to discuss how they implemented TWH approaches. Overall, we conducted seven in-depth organizational interviews with thirteen key informants.”

“The finding that stood out the most to me was that employment organizations appear to be prevention-focused and seek to address working conditions that threaten the safety, health and well-being of their workforce,” Hudson said.

Hudson found that an organization’s culture and readiness for implementation had a significant impact on the implementation of approaches that protect worker safety, health, and well-being. Findings also indicated that the characteristics of the interventions, such as their advantages and adaptability, were important considerations for successful implementation within organizations.

Hudson said this study “addresses an important gap in the field of TWH by providing a preliminary and practical understanding into how early adopter organizations of various sizes and sectors have applied principles consistent with the TWH approach.”

“I hope my research will inspire professionals in public health to better understand how work can positively and negatively influence health and well-being. Not just through using the workplace as a point to access people to educate, but to recognize that workers experience opportunities or improved health or reductions in health while they are working,” Hudson said.

“I believe holistic and integrated approaches that create safer and healthier work provide a tremendous opportunity to protect and promote the safety, health, and well-being of workers and their families, now and in the future,” she said. “Altogether, this can have an impact on the well-being and productivity of the nation. This type of impact, however, depends on understanding the inherent value of information, provided at the right time and to the right audience, while assuring credibility and compelling delivery.”

She plans to continue relevant research as part of her doctoral studies with insight from USF’s Dr. Claudia Parvanta, her academic advisor.

“I am seeking to further investigate the strength of organizational factors that impact the implementation of integrated interventions that address the safety, health and well-being of workers and their families,” she said.

Total Worker Health® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Participation by USF does not imply endorsement by HHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

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A new herd of Bulls is entering the USF College of Public Health on Monday, Aug. 24. After the spring 2020 semester went fully online due to COVID-19, USF is now reopening to students, faculty and staff, with safety precautions and measures in place, of course.

To prepare for the fall semester with the community health and well-being at their highest priority, the University of South Florida is using a multiphase approach to gradually resume in-person activities on campuses with measures in place to promote a safe environment. 

Each phase limits the number of individuals on campus and includes precautions to reduce community transmission of coronavirus and mitigate the possible exposure of returning students, faculty and staff.

As the doors are opening, USF is currently in Phase II, which includes the following:

• Courses will be delivered through a combination of face-to-face, hybrid and online courses.
• All employees who can work remotely should continue to do so.
• No more than 50% of employees should be on campus at any one time.
• Some points of service may open, such as libraries, student centers and campus recreation facilities on all three campuses, with limited hours or activities. Additional health and safety precautions will be in place, including plans to maintain physical distancing, wear face coverings and follow cleaning protocols.  Requests to open facilities for more in-person operations will continue to be reviewed by the USF COVID-19 Task Force. Please visit our Returning to Campus website for a list of services and opening dates, which will continue to be updated.
• Residence halls will open with new health and safety policies in place.
• All meetings and events should continue to be held virtually. Limited exceptions may be considered and must be reviewed in advance by the COVID-19 Task Force.
• Some common areas or gathering spaces may open with health and safety precautions.
• Travel restrictions remain in place.
• Beginning with the fall semester, everyone coming to campus must complete a daily symptom check through an easy-to-use digital platform. More information will be shared soon.

Throughout the COPH, classrooms, office spaces and student study spaces have all been modified to reflect USF’s guidelines and allow students, faculty and staff to remain socially distant. 

***

The semester the COPH is also welcoming six new Peace Corps Coverdell fellows, the largest cohort that the COPH has had thus far! 

The Peace Corps Coverdell Fellowship program is a graduate fellowship program awarding financial assistance to selected returned Peace Corps volunteers who are pursuing an MPH or MSPH degree. All Coverdell fellows complete internships in underserved communities in the Tampa Bay Area, while working under the supervision of faculty. Concurrently, fellows have the opportunity to fulfill the Peace Corps’ Third Goal: To promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Here are their stories:

Connor McCarley graduated from USF with a BS in health science with a focus on public health. After graduating, he served as an adolescent health promoter in Guyana through the Peace Corps. 

There he partnered with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education working in a secondary school and a health center helping to tackle the issues of high suicide and teen pregnancy rates in Guyana through education and practical experiences. 

“Some of the projects I completed include hosting a regional teacher workshop focusing on health education, establishing an adolescent health clinic, and the designing and creation of a health-centric classroom,” he said.

This semester, McCarley will begin the next step in his public health journey working towards his MPH in epidemiology and global communicable diseases. 

“I hope to one day be able to work to help eliminate global health disparities and improve access to healthcare around the world,” he said.

Gabby Cruz graduated from USF in 2019 with her BS in health sciences. After graduation, she departed to the rural Andes mountains of Peru in September of 2019 to participate in the Peace Corps Prep program as a community health facilitator. 

The focus of her program was helping the Ministry of Health tackle issues related to anemia, adolescent pregnancy and malnutrition through a capacity-building framework. Due to COVID-19, she was evacuated from her service early, along with the thousands of other volunteers worldwide, and returned to Florida to decide what was next. 

“Pursuing my master’s degree was a clear next step, and there was no other place I wanted to return to than my alma mater,” she said.  

Cruz will begin her MPH this fall and concentrating on global health practice. She is excited to have been selected to be a Coverdell fellow and eager to do more hands-on local to the Tampa Bay area.

Naomi Hayes graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2015 with a BS in Biology. Wanting to expand her perspective and strengthen her ties to her Japanese roots, she worked as an English teacher in Japan for three years through the Japanese Exchange and Teaching  Program USA. 

“It was during this time working with students, I realized how the lack of accessibility to resources and opportunities could significantly affect one’s quality of life. The experience steered me towards public health as a career,” she said.

After her experience, Hayes decided to join the Peace Corps and worked as a health extension volunteer in Tanzania to gain practical public health experience while also experiencing a new culture. 

She cooperated with local Tanzanian nationals and used her previous teaching experience to prepare educational lessons on topics such as HIV/AIDS prevention, infectious diseases and nutrition. She also worked with farmers in her village to introduce vitamin A rich sweet potatoes to diversify the carbohydrate-heavy local diet. 

“The highlight of my Peace Corps experience was being able to work alongside talented Tanzanians who are passionate about bringing meaningful change to their communities,” Hayes said. “Throwing ideas back and forth made me realize many challenges, such as poverty and food security, are universal. Though some differences exist between countries, the needs of our global community are the same.”

Hayes plans to use everything she learned towards elevating her experience at USF as a graduate student in order to one-day address health challenges that span the globe.

Tracy Gates is an incoming MPH student who enjoys travel, adventure, the outdoors, playing games, sharing cultures and ideas, as well as working with and empowering others. 

Gates earned her BS in biology from Morningside College in Iowa. After graduating she served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania for two years where she developed her passion for empowering others to enhance the quality of their lives through their health. 

Living in a rural village sharing life, culture, knowledge, ideas, and perspectives with Tanzanians was an amazing experience and really opened my mind and heart to the diversity of this world and the people who share it,” she said.

Gates worked on many projects during her service including chicken raising, bee keeping, and orange flesh sweet potato planting, as well as creating youth and student groups to learn about health, HIV/AIDS, and respect while playing soccer and supporting meetings with men in the village about how to best care for their and their family’s well-being. 

“It was challenging at times, trying to learn the language, adapting to new cultural norms, carrying water on my head, and cooking with a charcoal stove, but the experiences and relationships were so incredibly worth it,” Gates said.

Taylor Clark was born and raised in Florida and had actually never left the country until she joined the Peace Corps. 

Clark went to USF for her undergraduate degree and graduated with a BS in criminology and psychology. 

“After graduation, I accidently found myself in the public health field and my passion was ignited. I was working as an HIV tester for a local non-profit and realized that I wanted to explore this field more, so I applied to the Peace Corps,” she said. 

Her time as a volunteer was spent in Uganda. As a health volunteer with a passion for the HIV field, she was able to see firsthand all of the difficulties the country faces because of this virus. 

“Stigma was one of the biggest challenges, so my most rewarding moment was when I was able to attend the World AIDS day celebration with my organization and meet the vice president of the country,” Hayes said. “It was incredible to see a community that faces so much continuous stigmatization from within come together as a unit in order to call out for change. Joining the Peace Corps and going to Uganda was probably the most challenging, yet most rewarding, things I’ve ever done and I wouldn’t change that experience for anything.”

A Michigan native, Lucas Hicks received his BS in neuroscience from Michigan State University in 2017. Shortly afterwards he began his two-year stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, West Africa. 

Hicks worked in the sector of rural community health with students and community members to combat malaria, fight malnutrition, and promote good sexual health habits in a small town, while learning about a small country he had never heard of growing up. 

“My only time out of the United States was a weeklong civic engagement project in Jamaica my senior year but I knew that to truly understand the public health field, I couldn’t look at it only from an America-centric lens, so I jumped in headfirst,” he said.

Hicks said that his time in Benin cemented his passion for promoting equity in health outcomes across all communities. 

“I know that to be a credible public health official, you need to foster trust and respect with the communities in which you’re working. I have my family to thank for teaching me how to go about that, and I look forward to honing these and other skills at USF in a time where public health officials must have the complete trust of communities more at risk than ever before, during a global pandemic that is deepening income inequality and infrastructure failings putting minority communities disproportionately in harm’s way,” Hicks said. 

***

Along with the Coverdell fellows, the incoming Fall 2020 enrollment breakdowns to 2,543 undergraduates, 588 masters and 155 doctoral students!

Two new incoming students, Robert Smalley and Preeyapat Mangkalard shared what they are most excited for in the upcoming semester.

Smalley became interested in pursuing public health after he interned at the CDC from January to June 2019.  He is also an emergency medical technician and is also currently working at the CDC as an emergency management specialist.

This semester he is pursuing his MPH with a concentration in global disaster, humanitarian relief and homeland security.

“I am looking forward to continuing my education and growth as we have experienced a wide variety of different things in the year 2020,” Smalley said. “I also hope to further understand the world of public health and how it plays when disasters strike, whether it is one at a time or multiple ongoing disasters.”

Mangkalard earned her undergraduate degree in public health and has been working for the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand after graduating. 

“Public health connects us all and is a key for achieving well-being,” she said. “So, I wish to provide appropriate health knowledge to the people in the future.”

This year she’ll begin her MPH with a concentration in public health education.

“This year is an unpredictable situation with the global pandemic, thankfully I have my fall semester 100 percent online in while living in Thailand and can hopefully attend in-person classes during the spring semester!” she said. “This year, I hope I can gain more understanding about public health education and get ready for the CPH exam and projects in my second year.”

***

Please visit www.usf.edu/coronavirus for more information and review our extensive list of FAQs. If you have further questions, contact COVIDquestions@usf.edu.

Story by Caitlin Keough, USF College of Public Health

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Written by: Keith Brown, Safety Supervisor, USF SafetyFlorida

Hazard(s):
A portable air compressor was found being fed by two, 100 feet long, 16 gauge extension cords.

While the extension cords were suspended overhead to avoid contact with the water on the floor, water was encroaching upon the area in which the air compressor was located.

Violation(s):
29 CFR 1926.403(b)(1) – Examination. The employer shall ensure that electrical equipment is free from recognized hazards that are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees. Specifically, water was observed encroaching upon the area where live electrical equipment was set on the floor.

29 CFR 1926.403(b)(2) – Installation and use. Listed, labeled, or certified equipment shall be installed and used in accordance with instructions included in the listing, labeling, or certification. This applies to the air compressor and the two extension cords, none of which were being used in accordance with their listing or labeling. The air compressor manufacturer prohibits the use of an extension cord longer than 50 feet, nor smaller than 14 AWG (American Wire Gauge). Wire size increases as gauge number decreases, so 12 and 10 AWG may also be used. 

Consequences:
Exposure to potential severe electrical shock and electrocution hazards. Potential burns and smoke inhalation from fire as a result of electrical overloads.

Corrective Actions:
Locate electrical tools and equipment well away from areas subject to the accumulation of water. Use extension cords properly sized for amperage and length for their anticipated loads. Alternatively, use more sections of air hose so the compressor may remain close to its power source. Use and maintain all equipment in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.

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Her public health practice is industrial hygiene; her passion is worker health.

USF College of Public Health alumna Ivory Iheanacho said she was driven to public health for its ability to “safeguard our communities.”

The Baton Rouge, La. native earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental management from LSU before deciding to make the move south to Tampa, Fla. for her masters of science degree in public health.

She earned her MSPH in industrial hygiene from the USF College of Public Health in 2014, a degree which she said exposed her to the vastness of the public health profession.

“My graduate curriculum included a variety of courses such as health policy, toxicology and epidemiology,” she said. “What interested me most about public health is how broad of a profession it is and how a variety of systems work together to protect public health.”

Now, she’s putting what she learned earning her degree to work in Portland, Ore. as a senior consultant for Ramboll, a leading international engineering, design and consultancy company.

“With Ramboll I’m engaged with providing exposure assessment and exposure reconstruction support,” she said. “Consulting can be fast paced which means staying organized is an absolute must. Who and what I work on as a consultant changes from week to week, but I find it rewarding to look back at the clients I’ve worked with and see how I was able to help them.”

Iheanacho said the COPH’s environmental and occupational health program is hands on, and after graduation she found herself using the skills she learned while earning her degree, including the research skills she developed while writing her thesis.

“With consulting, I have had the opportunity to support a variety of worker populations within academia, healthcare, local government, private industry, manufacturing, military and now through litigation support,” she said.

She’s also become involved with the volunteer community within the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). Since 2017, she has served on the Continuing Education Committee (CEC), a national volunteer committee within AIHA.

“The mission of CEC is to ensure AIHA members are provided with the highest quality of training programs and educational opportunities for professionals in occupational and environmental health,” she said. Her leadership doesn’t stop there. In 2017, Iheanacho worked with four other AIHA members to cofound the Women in Industrial Hygiene (WIH) volunteer committee within AIHA. She now leads national WIH outreach efforts to raise awareness about public health, occupational health and the industrial hygiene profession within the community.

In 2018, she was elected president of the Pacific Northwest regional chapter of AIHA.

“I work with a phenomenal executive committee to provide members with a wide range of networking opportunities in the occupational health and safety field,” she said.

In all, her passion for worker health has its roots at the USF COPH.

“What sets USF COPH apart from other programs was the emphasis on practical application, requiring a field experience to ensure students have practical experience before graduating,” she said. “I look back at my time at COPH as a pivotal step in my career and personal life. I made lasting friendships with the students and staff of my program and have COPH to thank for where I am now.” 

Fast Five for COPH Alumni:

• What did you dream of becoming when you were young?
  An explorer.

• Where would we find you on the weekend?
  Hiking the trails.

• What is the last book you read?
  “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

• What superpower would you like to have?
  Fly.

• What’s your all-time favorite movie?
  Any Simon Pegg film.

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

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USF College of Public Health MPH student Andrea Johnston began her career in marketing but soon learned that she had a passion for public health.

Born and raised in Chino, California, Johnston earned her BA in business marketing from San Francisco State University in 2010.

After graduating college, Johnston moved back to the Los Angeles area and started working at NBCUniversal utilizing her business writing skills for the vice president of environmental, health and safety (EHS).

After nine months of working for the VP she was offered the opportunity to work in New York City for the facilities based EHS team and accepted the role after she realized she enjoyed working in an EHS capacity and for the company.

Andrea Johnston on the set of “The Voice” at NBCUniversal (Photo courtesy of Johnston).

Five years later Johnston is now an EHS specialist with the NBCUniversal Owned Station group for the two Los Angeles based television stations. She oversees EHS for all aspects of both stations including but not limited to the main facility, the field shop where the station vehicles are housed and two transmitter locations.

Her day to day work includes but is not limited to injury and  illness prevention and investigations, training, procedure writing, ensuring environmental regulations are maintained, ensuring their Department of Transportation drivers are kept qualified and have submitted required qualification documentation, conducting inspections and ergonomics.

“I say this all the time – that no day is ever the same. I am not one for sitting at a desk and doing the same thing day after day. I love how my job is a mix of interacting with people, sitting at my desk writing/emailing and being out in the field,” Johnston said.

There are over 50 topics in which there is an EHS program required to be created and maintained for their operations; Johnston manages all of them.

Johnston became a certified ergonomics evaluator in 2014, took the OSHA 30-hour industry course in 2015 and is expecting to graduate from the COPH with a MPH in health, safety and environment from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in May 2017.

Johnston is an online student and said that she was proud of her accomplishment of being able to manage working full-time in addition to being a part-time master’s student.

During her time in the field and in the COPH, Johnston said that there are many things that still surprise her with environmental and health safety.

“What is always surprising and changes in every work environment is how people accept and adopt safety,” Johnston said. “There are those who have done something for so long that changing an attitude or practice is hard to do. On the other hand, those who are new who you would think can adopt the right practices can find it sometimes hard to do as they feel or believe another way is better.”

Story by Caitlin Keough, USF College of Public Health

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On April 28, the University of South Florida College of Public Health joins the nation to recognize Workers’ Memorial Day—a national observance honoring workers who have died in the workplace due to unsafe working conditions.

Join local government and safety advocates for the commemoration from 3 to 5:30 p.m., Thursday, April 28, at the City of Temple Terrace, Council Chambers, 11250 N. 56^th Street, Temple Terrace, FL 33617. The event is free and open to the public. To register, visit https://safetyflorida.wufoo.com/forms/z2hfgze1ymj1bm/

Each year nearly 5,000 workers suffer injuries, contract illnesses from overexposure to chemicals and harmful substances, or worse, are killed from on-the-job hazards and unsafe practices.

To raise awareness of the issues affecting America’s workforce, the USF SafetyFlorida Consultation Program and USF OSHA Training Institute Education Center are collaborating to host the Workers’ Memorial Day Event to evoke change and advocate for better and safer workplaces.

The program includes reading the names of Florida’s fallen workers followed by a moment of silence and candlelight memorial.

“We can do more about workplace deaths,” said USF SafetyFlorida Program Director Charlene Sitterly. “Recommit yourself and your company to holding workplace safety as a core value.”

USF SafetyFlorida is the state’s official small business safety and health consultation program funded by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation. The not-for-profit program operates out of the USF College of Public Health and provides free and confidential workplace safety consultations to private sector businesses.

In observance of the Workers’ Memorial Day, the USF SafetyFlorida Consultation Program and USF OSHA Training Institute Education offer the following free training opportunities: OSHA 7115 – Lockout/Tagout, OSHA 7400 – Noise Hazards in Construction Industry, OSHA 7410 – Managing Excavation Hazards, 7505 – Introduction to Accident Investigation and OSHA 7845 – Recordkeeping Seminar.  For additional information and to register, visit http://www.usfsafetyflorida.com/site/Resources/Safety-Training/Workers-Memorial-Day-2016.

Employers interested in receiving a free and confidential consultation visit may contact the USF SafetyFlorida Consultation Program toll-free at (866) 273-1105, or visit www.usfsafetyflorida.com.

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