CSE Research Activities for 2010

The CSE’s research efforts are supported entirely by funds raised by contributions to the CSE or through contracts to evaluate worker health. The Center has developed and conducted occupational health projects with the support of 5 different unions and associated management groups over the last decade: HERE; UAW; CWA; IAFF; Orange County Fire Authority (Management).

CSE is finishing up a study conducted in November 2009 with Communications Workers of America (CWA) members employed as line-workers/technicians by Verizon in Southern California. Marnie Dobson (CSE Associate Director) prepared and presented a report to Verizon management and CWA representatives during a collective bargaining session in Southern Californiain March 2010. She also prepared a proposal outlining a study to be conducted in collaboration with Verizon Southern California and CWA to further study Verizon line workers and call-center workers. There has been no response from Verizon on this proposal. Marnie Dobson and Peter Schnall have published 2 abstracts presented at the November 2009 NIOSH Work and Health Conference in Puerto Rico describing the findings of work factors and health outcomes among CWA line workers.

The Center is currently involved in investigating work factors and their roles in obesity and hypertension among Orange County Firefighters (FF’s) in collaboration with the UCI Center for Occupational and Environmental Health.  Center staff at the UCI COEH recently wrote a successful two-year grant proposal to the CDC/NIOSH to study work characteristics, health behaviors and obesity risk in firefighters. The two-year study is currently underway at the UCI COEH as of November 2010 with collaboration from other CSE staff and is called the FORWARD project (Firefighter Obesity Research: Workplace Assessment to Reduce Disease)

FORWARD Project: Phase One of the project concluded with a last focus group (held on February 15th). The focus groups were conducted in order to revise/develop a firefighter work and health questionnaire. Phase Two to begin in May 2011 marks the beginning of recruitment and data collection. Our goal is to get 357 fire fighter respondents. Data collection is expected to take us into April of 2012. Phase Three is a sub-study, which begins sometime in June/July and takes us into December. It will include approximately 80 fire fighter participants who, for three days, will wear an accelerometer for physical activity monitoring and write what they eat in a food diary. Phase Four is ongoing and involves linking the WEFIT Clinical Data and the collection of BMI, body fat %, and CVD biological risk factors. OCFA archival data on call volume, etc., will also be collected. Phase Five, which will run between June and August of 2012 will involve holding new focus groups (to get feedback on the project and information collected therein), the submission of a final report to OCFA, along with an evaluation of the study and recommendations for prevention of obesity in OCFA fire fighters.

We have created a website for FF’s and the public to follow the progress of the project located at www.coeh.uci.edu/forward/index.htm. Please visit for more information and updates on our activities.

Comments are closed.