You may be wondering why CROET’s June symposium is on Green Chemistry, Safer Alternatives and Work? Perhaps you could say that a discussion that was part of our 2009 symposium Oregon’s Workplace Health and Safety: Looking forward to 2020 led us here. Perhaps you were there and remember the motivating words of Dr. John Howard of NIOSH? You may recall that he spoke about NIOSH’s Total Worker Health initiative – funny thing that we had no idea then that the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center would later be selected as a NIOSH Total Worker Health Center of Excellence.

But back to Green Chemistry. One of the Cross Cutting Issues discussed during the day was Workplace safety and health implications of the transition to “green.” Key areas of concern identified during this 2009 discussion were: Perception of “green” and its effect on safety and health; Do we understand current safety testing and labeling of green products; Where are the data gaps; and, What are some of the problems and strategies for transitioning the public into using green products.

A lot has happened since 2009 relating to green chemistry and safer alternatives. Sometimes, however, we still find that the workplace is left out of the conversation. We are eager to revisit some of the things discussed back in our September ’09 Symposium along with updated news and findings.  We are really happy to partner with Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division. And as with all of our symposia, we are thrilled to bring in great speakers with terrific knowledge of the topic. Won’t you join us?

Resources
View webinar from CROET’s symposium Looking Forward to 2020.
Visit Green Chemistry, Safer Alternatives and Work webpage and online registration.
See Green Construction subtopic on CROETweb.com.
Visit CROET’s Health & Safety symposia webpage.