Service & Outreach

The Southern California region is home to two-thirds of California’s workforce.  UCLA COEH plays a critical role in providing continuing education and professional development courses on key occupational health topics to thousands of workers and management professionals. COEH faculty are also active nationally, presenting at professional conferences and participating in committees and advisory groups in their respective fields.

Continuing Professional Education

The Southern California Education and Research Center (ERC) is one of 18 multidisciplinary centers in the United States supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for education and research in the field of occupational health.

ERC offers a variety of continuing education courses for the modern workforce, in topics such as respiratory protection, hazardous materials management, industrial hygiene, ergonomics, noise and hearing loss prevention, risk management and other workplace safety topics.

For more information about courses offered by the center, visit: https://erc.ucla.edu/ced/

Labor and Community Education

Founded in 1978, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) is a nationally recognized center promoting safe workplaces through teaching and education, research, and policy advocacy. LOSH collaborates with workers, unions, community organizations, employers, academics, students, governmental representatives, and health professionals. Initiatives include public health classes, education and community research with  low-income, minority, immigrant and young workers; capacity-building and technical assistance to support health promotora programs, small businesses and worker engagement in workplace-based labor-management health and safety programs; advocacy to inform key policies such as prevention of heat illness and workplace violence and promotion of worker engagement in the policy arena; and participation in industry-wide research relating to occupational and environmental health policy issues in California.

LOSH is the Southern California lead organization for a statewide network of state-funded UC programs to develop occupational health leadership programs for worker to engage in effective workplace and community-based initiatives; the Western Region lead organization for a national network of NIEHS-funded programs to train workers to clean up and safety handle hazardous materials, prevent and respond to disasters; and develop workforce programs that address environmental contamination and unemployment through outreach, education and job placement for underserved communities.

LOSH staff includes a multi-ethnic, bilingual group of professionals with backgrounds in public health, participatory adult education, curriculum development, social work, public policy, and quantitative and qualitative research methods.

LOSH is affiliated with the COEH and with UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE). For more information about LOSH, visit: http://losh.ucla.edu/