Inclusion and Belonging
How can we build a safe, inclusive workplace environment that allows each employee to feel valued? How can employers create a sense of belonging for workers from different communities? In this section, you'll find resources dedicated to nurturing inclusivity through policy and practice, as well as resources for specific issues like racial equity, multigenerational workforces, and families.
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Featured Resources
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace is a 13-minute podcast from the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest focused on creating an environment where everyone feels represented, accepted, and has access to opportunities. Dr. Adia Harvey Wingfield of Washington University in St. Louis offers evidence-based recommendations for workplaces to address these important issues.
You Belong Here: A Total Worker Health® Approach to Inclusive Engagement in Your Workplace is a 1-hour webinar from the Health Links™ program at the Center for Health, Work & Environment. Keeping employees connected and engaged is more important now than ever before. Social belonging is a fundamental human need. And yet, 40% of people say that they feel isolated at work, resulting in lower organizational commitment and engagement. In this webinar, experts share how to create top-down alignment by making inclusion part of your core values, how to establish trust to foster a culture of belonging and well-being in the workplace, and how to strike a balance between technology and the physical work environment to increase engagement in your Total Worker Health® approach.
Other Resources
Inclusion and Worker Well Being in the Trades is a two-part podcast from the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center. Part I (47 minutes) features Kelly Kupcak, the Executive Director of Oregon Tradeswomen’s Executive Director. In Part II (53 minutes), the hosts chat with Tiffany Thompson, Director of Workforce Equity and Technical Assistance of Oregon Tradeswomen and Dr. Maura Kelly an Associate Professor of Sociology at Portland State University. Tiffany and Maura support and help workplaces gain tools and educational opportunities in respectful workplace programs. A large part of their work is to support capacity building such as investing resources and time to contribute to cultural shifts needed on trade job sites.
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Featured Resources
Becoming an Antiracist Workplace is a 57-minute workplace from the Center for Health, Work & Environment that asks how we can create antiracist organizations. The webinar focuses on creating a shared understanding of what it means to be antiracist as well as sharing tools and tips for creating an antiracist work environment.
When Good Intentions Aren’t Enough: How Racism Persists in Today’s Workplaces is a 1-hour webinar from the Center for Health, Work & Environment. Over 50 years have gone by since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, yet the U.S. remains markedly racially segregated. Racial inequalities are particularly present in the workplace, where Black workers are underrepresented in high-wage, high-status positions in tech, law, medicine, and other industries. In this webinar, Dr. Adia Harvey Wingfield examines why these patterns remain so consistent and discusses what organizations can do to change these outcomes.
Other Resources
Antiracism 2023: Environmental Justice and the Workplace is a 1-hour webinar from the Center for Health, Work & Environment. Environmental justice focuses on the intersection between race and class health disparities and environmental issues. Environmental justice issues affect Black, Brown, and Indigenous people disproportionately and are relevant to employers of all kinds and across all industries.
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Featured Resources
Designing Flexible Work and Pay Equity for Black and Latinx Women is a 50-minute podcast from the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center that explores particular challenges in designing equitable policies. Flexible work and racial equity are rarely considered in the same conversation. Yet, Black and Latinx women may have more to gain (and lose) from flexible work than white women. Black and Latinx women tend to have more intense caregiving demands and to be less financially able to work reduced hours or leave the workforce. Furthermore, what makes a city a great place to live often looks different to them. There are far fewer places that offer Black and Latinx women the cultural resources, economic opportunities and sense of safety that all employees value. Finally, they are overrepresented in low-wage service roles, often performing the "essential" work that has kept the United States running through the COVID-19.
Diversity and Disparity in Leadership in Safety, Construction, and Consulting is a 1-hour webinar from California Labor Lab and COEH that explores the impact of historical, sociocultural, and economic inequalities on the percentage of African-American women entrepreneurs in the safety, construction, and consulting fields. The webinar describes the historical context of choosing a STEM career for young African American girls and/or women, the social impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and more.
The Occupational Health Equity program from NIOSH promotes research, outreach, and prevention activities that reduce health inequalities for workers who are at higher risk for occupational injury and illness as a result of social and economic structures historically linked to discrimination or exclusion. This resource includes descriptions of programs that support equity, reports on workplace discrimination, and links to a reports on health equity, including overlapping vulnerabilities.
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Featured Resources
Workplace Lactation Accommodation is a 54-minute webinar from Center for Health, Work & Environment that offers information on how breastfeeding is healthy for parents and babies but also benefits employers, the community, and the environment that we all live in. Learn more about how your workplace can support breastfeeding families through the adoption of breastfeeding-friendly policies and practices.
Maternal Mental Health 101 is a 1-hour webinar from the Center for Health, Work & Environment that provides an overview of what pregnancy-related mental health disorders are and three ways employers can support their employees’ mental health through the perinatal period (conception–age one). Presenters also share information on new resources available to support expectant and new moms and ways employers can promote maternal mental health and well-being.
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Featured Resources
The Multigenerational Workforce is a 4-minute video from the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest. Dr. Beth Livingston overviews factors workplaces should address including challenge, balance, and authenticity to create a more inclusive and productive environment for all generations.
Inclusive Design is a 4-minute video from the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest. Inclusive design in a work environment can better the lives of everyone regardless of age or mobility circumstances. Most accommodations cost employers little or no money, including flexible work schedules that allow individuals to better balance work and life. Businesses that incorporate inclusive design are more competitive and have higher employee retention.
Promoting U through Safety & Health (PUSH) is a toolkit from the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center. This TWH toolkit is designed for for organizations who employ young workers and offers resources to reduce workplace injuries, increase healthy habits, and build communication skills. In turn, these outcomes will result in a healthy and productive young workforce. Learn more about TWH for young workers and the design process of the PUSH toolkit.
Young Worker Safety and Health is a page of resources from NIOSH dedicated to sharing information, curriculum for the employers of young workers, and health competencies to share with employees.
Other Resources
Supporting Aging Workers: Overcoming Workplace Ageism is a 43-minute webinar from CPH-NEW. Guest Speaker Gretchen (Gigi) Petery, Ph.D. discusses examples of common and socially acceptable ageist beliefs and provides evidence of whether or not those beliefs are empirically supported. In addition, she examines the consequences of workplace ageism for workers, organizations, and society, along with management strategies for combating ageism.
Protecting Young Age Workers is a comprehensive training for parents, supervisors, and employers of young workers in agriculture. Hosted by the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest and developed by the University of Iowa and National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, topics include supervising, training, and communicating more effectively with young workers. The training and supplemental materials are available in online and print formats in English and Spanish.
Promoting U Through Safety and Health (PUSH): A Training for Young Workers is a 45-minute online course developed by the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health. The goal of this course is to provide young workers (less than 25 years old) with strategies to protect themselves at work. Topics include why young workers are at risk for injuries, finding and controlling hazards, worker rights, communication, workplace violence, harassment, and discrimination, and being alert and ready for work.
