The HWC provides free and low-cost resources and education for employers and practitioners to support worker well-being.
Workplace mental health policies and practices demonstrate leadership support and provide a plan for action. It is important to move beyond individual solutions to address how the organization of work can impact mental health.
The workplace mental health policy brief outlines the benefits of addressing mental health, describes strong mental health and return to work policies, and highlights best practices to promote mental health and safety.
Our work in the construction industry identified mental health, including substance use and suicide prevention, as important topics. The HWC launched a workplace suicide prevention campaign in 2019 with two “stand-down for safety” events (when work is stopped to talk about safety), and was expanded to address the needs beyond construction in late 2020. The resources are now freely available on our website.
The Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest [HWC] is a collaboration between the University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Penn State University, WorkWell Kansas, the Nebraska Safety Council, and the St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition. The HWC is one of ten Total Worker Health Centers of Excellence funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to address worker well-being.
The Center was established in 2006 and is built upon extensive investigator experience in occupational health and safety, ergonomics, and health promotion. The vision of the HWC is to create a safe, healthy, and productive workforce.