The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) provides funding for the training of occupational safety and health specialists at 17 university-based programs across the country. These programs are called Education and Research Centers (ERCs).
ERCs graduate almost half of the nation's post-baccalaureate occupational health and safety specialists, including the majority of occupational health nursing and occupational medicine graduates. In the last five years, these programs graduated about 1,800 occupational safety and health professionals and provided continuing education for 184,000 professionals. The program was established in 1977.
