Advancing Workforce Health at the Department of Homeland Security Protecting Those Who Protect Us (2014) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 The DHS Workplace and Health System
2 The DHS Workplace and Health System
Pages 43-62
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 43... ...
An understanding of the historical context of the department and the difficulties it has previously encountered and continues to face is requisite to visualizing a path toward an integrated capability for workforce health protection. This chapter provides a brief history of the agency and describes, in turn, its mission and current organizational structure, the health and safety challenges faced by its workforce, its health protection mission, and the organization of its health system.
|
From page 44... ...
. Critical functions of the new agency, organized under directorates established by the Homeland Security Act, included information analysis and infrastructure protection, border and transportation security, emergency preparedness and response, research and development, and management of the DHS enterprise.
|
From page 45... ...
COAST GUARD Federal Law Enforcement Training Center TREASURY U.S.
|
From page 46... ...
The breadth of the DHS mission is reflected in the diversity of its component agencies. The five core DHS missions described in Box 2-1 are carried out by the department's seven operating component agencies (CBP,
|
From page 47... ...
, ICE, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Transportation Security 2 The Coast Guard's primary missions are domestic in nature (e.g., drug interdiction, maritime law enforcement, environmental stewardship, search and rescue)
|
From page 48... ...
maritime interests in the heartland, in the nation's ports, at sea, and around the globe. By law, the Coast Guard has 11 missions: ports, waterways, and coastal security; drug interdiction; aids to navigation; search and rescue; living marine resources; marine safety; defense readiness; migrant interdiction; marine environmental protection; ice operations; and other law enforcement.
|
From page 49... ...
* The Management Directorate includes the DHS Chief Administrative Services Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Procure ment Officer, and Chief Security Officer.
|
From page 50... ...
50 FIGURE 2-2 DHS organizational chart. SOURCE: http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/dhs-orgchart.pdf (accessed January 17, 2014)
|
From page 51... ...
Secret Service 6,524 DHS Headquarters 3,281 National Protection and 2,801 Programs Directorate Federal Law Enforcement 1,116 Training Center Office of the Inspector General 731 Science and Technology 466 Directorate Domestic Nuclear Detection 112 Office SOURCE: OPM, 2013.
|
From page 52... ...
One headquarters component, the National Protection and Programs Directorate, also has a notable law enforcement workforce. The Federal Protective Service, located within the National Protection and Programs Directorate, employs approximately 900 law enforcement security officers, criminal investigators, police officers, and support personnel, in addition to 15,000 contracted guard staff, to secure federal buildings and safeguard their occupants (DHS, 2013a)
|
From page 53... ...
For example, law enforcement personnel may avoid help-seeking behavior (e.g., utilizing employee assistance programs and other counseling services) because of perceived stigma, and highlevel policy personnel may do the same because of concern about losing their security clearance (IOM, 2012, 2013)
|
From page 54... ...
The report recommended further that an organizational entity be given responsibilities and resources for oversight of a DHS workforce health protection program encompassing occupational safety and health, medical monitoring, and medical support to field operating units. While progress has been made toward the development of a centralized medical infrastructure with the creation of OHA and the CMO position, the recommended alignment of occupational safety and health and medical programs was never implemented, and the committee found that many of the deficiencies noted in that report have yet to be addressed.
|
From page 55... ...
. One of the goals for the new office was to ensure that DHS employees are supported by an effective occupational safety and health program.
|
From page 56... ...
. Notably 8 Initially, a departmental occupational safety and health program, as required by presidential executive order, was located in the Office of Administration under the oversight of the Under Secretary for Management, who was the Designated Agency Safety and Health Official.
|
From page 57... ...
. Although Goal 2 is focused solely on the externally facing public health activities of OHA, the other three goals relate to the medical infrastructure within DHS and therefore were of interest to this committee.
|
From page 58... ...
Component-specific descriptions of health program organization, including organizational charts, are included in Appendix A Headquarters Level Although the 2008 Delegation to the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer assigned the CMO authority for exercising oversight over all medical and public health activities of DHS, responsibility for workforce health protection functions at the department level is divided between two mission support offices: OHA and the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO)
|
From page 59... ...
Occupational safety OHA provides guidance and OCHCO leads the development and health support for medical aspects of policy, standards, requirements, of DHS health and safety and metrics related to DHS programs, and consults health and safety programs. It as needed for accident also conducts trend analyses and investigations.
|
From page 60... ...
NOTES: There are six primary offices within Human Capital and Policy Programs, but only those with health-related functions are included in this figure. The Chief Human Capital Officer serves as the2-3, editable, color Safety and Health Official, R02547, Figure Designated Agency and the Chief Medical Officer leads the Office of Health Affairs.
|
From page 61... ...
, operational medicine programs at DHS are divided between management units and operational units, such as the Office of Border Patrol at CBP or Response and Recovery at FEMA. Even when all health and medical programs fall within a single management unit, programs often are segregated among different offices, and, with the notable exception of the Coast Guard, the committee found that generally no single person has sole responsibility for oversight and coordination of all health, safety, and medical programs.
|
From page 62... ...
Presentation at IOM Committee on DHS Occupational Health and Operational Medicine Infrastructure: Meeting 1, March 5, Washington, DC. Rajaratnam, S
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.