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Introduction: In this commentary, we explore safety and health career pathways in the U.S. and discuss the future of work through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We address occupational safety and health inequities, including underrepresentation of racial and ethnic groups in academic disciplines, which impacts workers' safety and the future of work. We introduce the Accessibility, Sustainability, and Knowledge-Generation (ASK) framework to broaden minority participation in occupational safety and health (OSH) education., Method: The ASK framework integrates insights from learned experiences, research literature, accreditation knowledge, and community feedback to identify strategies for dismantling barriers to workforce diversity and promoting equitable participation and access to opportunities in OSH education. We conducted a US based survey to gain insights into the minority experience and the role of students, faculty, and academia in mitigating disparities and creating pathways of opportunities., Results: The survey results highlight the need for pedagogic improvements in OSH academic programs to attract more minorities. The appreciation of cultural competence across universities and changes to current systemic funding mechanisms are identified as crucial factors. We acknowledge that existing interventions have been less effective due to a lack of tangible actions. However, we emphasize that solutions exist, and meaningful support is required to drive change., Conclusions: The study underscores the importance of addressing occupational safety and health inequities and the underrepresentation of minority groups in OSH education. The ASK framework provides a comprehensive approach to broaden minority participation and promote diversity in the field. Pedagogic improvements, cultural competence, and changes to funding mechanisms are necessary steps to attract and retain underrepresented minorities in OSH academic programs., Practical Applications: The findings of this study have practical implications for institutions and stakeholders involved in occupational safety and health education. It emphasizes the need for proactive strategies to attract and support underrepresented minority students and faculty. Promoting cultural competence and making changes to funding mechanisms can contribute to creating more equitable and inclusive pathways for diverse groups in OSH education. Tangible actions and meaningful support are essential for driving change and achieving workforce diversity and equity., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Realizing population-level discomfort evaluation and control of common static posture holding tasks requires an understanding of the inter-individual variation in discomfort perception. However, little research is available., Objective: This study aimed to determine the types of mathematical probability distribution suitable for modeling population discomfort distributions of various static posture holding tasks and characterize how the magnitude of inter-individual variation in perceived discomfort varies across static posture holding tasks., Subjects: Ten male and ten female subjects participated., Methods: The participants conducted static posture holding for a set of 180 short-duration (20-second-long) static posture holding tasks and subjectively rated the overall perceived discomfort for each task using the Borg CR-10 discomfort scale. Statistical analyses were conducted according to the study objectives., Results: The static posture holding tasks exhibited multifarious discomfort distribution patterns. Probability distribution identification analyses indicated that no single distribution type could represent population discomfort distributions universally across different static posture holding tasks. Sample standard deviation of discomfort ratings data quantifying the magnitude of inter-individual variation in discomfort perception varied considerably across static posture holding tasks. It seemed to have a positive relationship with sample mean within the range of the experimental conditions., Conclusions: Population-level evaluation of discomforts associated with static posture holding tasks must be based on careful examinations of empirical discomfort distributions.

Background: Few studies have investigated mathematical characteristics of the discomfort-time relationship during prolonged static posture holding (SPH) on an individual basis. Consequently, the discomfort-time relationship is not clearly understood at individual trial level., Objective: The objective of this study was to examine discomfort-time sequence data obtained from a large number of maximum-duration SPH trials to understand the perceived discomfort-posture holding time relationship at the individual SPH trial level., Method: Thirty subjects (15 male, 15 female) participated in this study as paid volunteers. The subjects performed maximum-duration SPH trials employing 12 different wholebody static postures. The hand-held load for all the task trials was a ``generic'' box weighing 2 kg. Three mathematical functions, that is, linear, logarithmic and power functions were examined as possible mathematical models for representing individual discomfort-time profiles of SPH trials., Results: Three different time increase patterns (negatively accelerated, linear and positively accelerated) were observed in the discomfort-time sequences data. The power function model with an additive constant term was found to adequately fit most (96.4%) of the observed discomfort-time sequences, and thus, was recommended as a general mathematical representation of the perceived discomfort-posture holding time relationship in SPH., Conclusion: The new knowledge on the nature of the discomfort-time relationship in SPH and the power function representation found in this study will facilitate analyzing discomfort-time data of SPH and developing future posture analysis tools for work-related discomfort control.