In recognition of Construction Safety Week, an annual industry-wide education and awareness week that started in 2014, we want to highlight Staff Spotlight featuring a team member from the Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OR-FACE) Program. Construction Safety Week is set for this week, May 2-6, 2022.
OR-FACE is a surveillance program that investigates and assesses traumatic occupational fatalities in Oregon and produces safety materials to promote worker safety. OR-FACE investigations of fatal occupational incidents assess risk factors that include the working environment, the worker, activity, tools and the role of management. Organizations can gain access to fatality investigation reports and toolbox talks, which include industries like construction, agriculture, logging, forestry and more,
In our Staff Spotlight posts, we feature an Institute staff member and share with the community a behind-the-scenes look through a question and answer session to learn more about their research areas, career path and goals, but most importantly recognize their great work. Today, we feature Jackie Boyd, OR-FACE Research Project Coordinator.
Tell us more about yourself (career path, goals, anything you want us to know, etc.)
“I grew up in Southern California in a small mountain town and then moved to Mammoth Lakes, California, where I attended the community college there. Once I finished my two years of community college I attended the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), receiving my Bachelor of Science in Community Health Sciences (Public Health). During undergrad, I interned at the campus’ Environmental Health and Safety Department conducting lab assessments. While I was studying public health in Reno, I realized I wanted to specialize in environmental health. From there I decided to pursue a graduate degree focusing on environmental health, which led me to the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. I graduated last June with my Master of Public Health (MPH) with a specialization in Environmental Systems and Human Health. Occupational health has been an interest of mine since my internship at UNR. I built upon my occupational health knowledge in graduate school, by taking my first occupational health course, which was one of my favorite classes. During graduate school, I was a Student Research Assistant in the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology at OHSU, where I assisted in the development of systematic reviews, which got me interested in the research world. After graduate school I knew I wanted to stay in the research field to expand upon my research knowledge.”
What current research projects are you working on?
“I currently support Dr. David Hurtado’s Lab on two research projects. The first project I work on is the OR-FACE program as a Research Project Manager. The goal of OR-FACE is to prevent workplace fatalities in Oregon through surveillance, investigations, and outreach. My role includes coordinating the OR-FACE team as well as stakeholders within the community; data collection; and producing outreach materials, such as the annual report; among many other tasks.
I am also a Research Assistant for the Work-life Check-ins (WLCI) project in Dr. David Hurtado’s lab. The goal of WLCI is to reduce burnout amongst healthcare workers by having regularly scheduled staff-supervisor check-ins. My role for this project is to assist with getting the project ready to collect data, such as IRB modifications, preparing recruitment materials and assisting with stakeholder meetings.”
What do you like most about working for OHSU/Institute/occupational health research?
“Everyone at the Institute is very kind and welcoming. I love working with people who are passionate about making positive changes in the community. I enjoy the various learning opportunities the Institute provides, such as seminars and journal clubs, to learn more about other occupational health topics. I appreciate the supportive environment of the Institute that allows me to grow as a researcher.”
What are your favorite hobbies outside of work? Home-life is very important to our health and well-being and is interconnected to our work-life
“In my free time, I enjoy being in the outdoors. One of the reasons why I moved to Oregon was to enjoy the vast outdoors. My favorite outdoor activities include skiing, paddleboarding, hiking, biking and camping. I enjoy going up to Mount Hood year-round to do these activities. One of my favorite places to hike is the Oregon Coast. I am hoping to go on a camping trip this summer to Olympic National Park as well as some regular weekend outdoor activities. I also enjoy cooking and baking in my free time. I like to try new recipes.”
In case you missed our blog post last week, Jackie collaborates on OR-FACE with Alan Martinez from the Oregon Health Authority’s OPHP Program. Learn more about OR-FACE here and our latest OR-FACE blog post.
