title: Front-line worker engagement: greening health care, improving worker and patient health, and building better jobs.
abstract: Frontline workers have a great deal to contribute to improving environmental sustainability of their employers and the health of workers and patients. This article discusses a national project of the Healthcare Career Advancement Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor to support green jobs development. Implementation was accomplished through a labor/management collaboration between union locals and 11 employers in four regions throughout the United States. The project developed and implemented a model of training and education for environmental service workers and other frontline health-care workers in hospital settings that supported systems change and built new roles for these workers. It empowered them to contribute to triple bottom line outcomes in support of People (patients, workers, the community), Planet (environmental sustainability and a lower carbon footprint), and Profit (cost savings for the institutions). In the process workers more clearly articulated their important role as a part of the healthcare team and learned how they could contribute to improved patient and worker health and safety.
authors.affiliation: Healthcare Career Advancement Program (H-CAP), New York, NY 10108-2565, USA. Laura.Chenven@1199Funds.org
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chenven
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Copeland
mesh_terms: D002322:Career Mobility; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007750:Labor Unions; D017145:Models, Educational; D016272:Occupational Health; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000193:education*; D024382:Professional Role; D014481:United States