Mission & History

The Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (RMCOEH) was established in 1977 to meet the need for comprehensive occupational and environmental safety and health programs in the West. We are one of 18 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-sponsored Education and Research Centers in the U.S., and one of only two in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Region 8, which includes Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. (Our reach also extends into Idaho and Nevada.)

Our passion is protecting workers and their environment, and we do so in three ways:

• training the next generation of occupational safety and health professionals through state-of-the-art academic and residency programs. These programs have produced more than 780 graduates. Nearly half of our graduates serve in management or director positions, according to our 2022 alumni survey, and graduates also report an average annual injury reduction of 35.6% in their organizations due to their services.
• performing groundbreaking research that contributes key knowledge to many areas of study within occupational and environmental health and safety.
• sharing our knowledge through an extensive Continuing Education program that has served more than 150,000 professionals and 8,000-plus businesses, as well as outreach efforts such as lectures, presentations, site visits, and consultations.

While our purpose never changes, one hallmark of RMCOEH is that we are always evolving. That’s true not only with respect to our approach to education, but also to the center itself — including a major recent transition.

Utah lawmakers in 2021 passed legislation transforming us into a first-of-its-kind partnership between the University of Utah and Weber State University. It’s a big shift from our first 40-plus years, when we operated solely within the University of Utah, but the partnership marks an exciting new chapter for the center. It allows us to continue to expand, provides more resources to educate trainees, and ultimately, enables us to make an even bigger difference in the lives of workers throughout the West and beyond.

Legislative Support

RMCOEH has long benefited from strong bipartisan support in the Utah Legislature. Working with lawmakers of both parties who believe in our mission, we have helped spearhead more than a dozen laws over the last two decades aimed at making workers throughout the region safer and helping businesses thrive. 

The major legislation we have been involved in includes: 

• 2005: S.B. 159 — Establishment of tax credit support for RMCOEH through workers compensation premium taxes (Sen. Eddie Mayne)
• 2006: H.B. 9 — Workers compensation studies, including coverage of firefighters and drug officers (Rep. Joseph Murray)
• 2007: S.B. 234 — Establishment of RMCOEH in Utah state statute, a first in U.S. (Sen. Eddie Mayne)
• 2009: S.B. 15 — Establishment of Eddie Mayne funds for RMCOEH (Sen. Karen Mayne)
• 2010: H.B. 221 — Reauthorization of tax credit support mechanism for 10 years (Rep. Kevin Garn)
• 2015: S.B. 3 — Startup funding for bachelor of science in occupational safety and health program (Sen. Lyle Hillyard)
• 2017: H.B. 175 — Supports training, health care provider reimbursement for opioid screenings (Rep. Steve Eliason)
• 2018: S.B. 14 — Renewal of Eddie Mayne Funds established in 2009 and removal of sunsetting (Sen. Karen Mayne) 
• 2020: S.B. 11 — Reauthorization of tax credit support mechanism for 10 years (Sen. Curtis Bramble)
• 2020: H.B. 3007 — COVID-19 support for first responders (Rep. Francis Gibson)
• 2021: S.B. 172 — Establishment of RMCOEH as state’s first multi-university program partnership, between Weber State University and the University of Utah (Sen. Karen Mayne)
• 2022: H.B. 3 — Provides $2 million in ongoing funding for RMCOEH Weber State-University of Utah partnership (Rep. Bradley Last)
• 2023: S.B. 2 — Provides $800,000 in ongoing funding for RMCOEH Weber State-University of Utah partnership (Sen. Jerry Stevenson)