The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Monday marked the beginning of the National Public Health Week by opening a new office in San Fernando Valley, which devoted itself to the health of workers in high -risk industry.
District and city officials, working groups and health representatives gathered in the Zev Yaroslavsky Family Support Center in Van Nuys at the opening of the Office of Health and Safety of the workers who have already started to support workers who are affected by forest fires, and those who are in silicosis danger, a potentially fatal lung disease caused by exposure to Silica.
“Words cannot express my excitement and gratitude to stand here among friends, allies and managers today in order to make it clear that after disasters, in the middle of attacks on our community, we stand together with working people, and we undertake to build the infrastructure that creates a reflection of the employee in this district,” said office and security director Alice Berliner.
The office works with community-based organizations and academic experts in order to make use in combustion areas and, according to DPH officials, to offer educational practices for security practices.
In addition, the office focuses on the workers of stone production by providing you with information to prevent silicosis. Information about safety and compliance with CAL-OSHA regulations is made available to workers and companies as well as the training of consumers by buying alternatives. From March 2025, 58% of the California silicosis cases are located in Los Angeles County, with 99% of cases appearing among Latin American male workers, mainly in San Fernando Valley, as DPH data showed.
District officials emphasized that the LA region, although it houses a diverse and dynamic workforce, which contributes significantly to the country's economy – these employees have serious challenges. Workers in the LA district have some of the highest rates of working injuries and illnesses, wage theft and retaliation in the state, civil servants said.
In 2023, the district made up about 25% of all reported professional injuries in California, the highest rate in the state.
“This new office is based on the success of the public health councils that were introduced during the Covid 19 pandemic in 2021 to help employees identify and remedy jobs through training and education,” said DPH director Barbara Ferrer.
The director also emphasized serious concerns about the equipment of the Trump administration for public health, employee security and other categories.
Two weeks ago, the federal government announced that officials from the district were lifted more than 45 million US dollars of grants that are expected to take until July 2026. Another considerable part of federal financing for immunization and prevention of drug abuse was also ended in the middle of the contract.
“A federal court provided a temporary injunction at the end of last week, which means that the financing of these programs can be continued at least until the court hearing on April 16,” said Ferrer.
According to Ferrer, it will be an all-hand-on deck situation in the coming months to support the health of all residents of the district.
“One of the clearest lessons that we learned during the pandemic was the need to concentrate more effort on the protection of workers,” said Ferrer, finding that the residents of black and brown and low-income workers died up to four times more frequently or were taken in hospitals due to uncertain job conditions.
“We should never allow that again,” added Ferrer.
This year the National Public Health Week costs the 30th anniversary. This year's topic is “IT Start here” and focuses on the role of systems, partnerships and coordinated efforts to promote public health.