Dr. Rima Habib, 2017 International Health and Safety Award, OHS Section, APHA @markdcatlin

Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago

Rima Habib, PhD, MPH, MOHS, of the American University of Beirut, received the 2017 International Health and Safety Award from the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). This award recognizes individuals with outstanding achievement in the field of occupational health and safety outside the U.S. Dr. Habib is Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Environmental Health in the School of Health Sciences. Over her near 20 year career, she has challenged colleagues, government officials, and NGO’s to recognize and pursue social justice approaches to environmental and occupational research and public-health practice. Dr. Habib’s attention is focused on health disparities for marginalized workers and unrecognized labor in Lebanon and the larger Arab region. Her work extends outside traditional boundaries by investigations of the work environment and gender. Dr. Habib is one of the pioneers in exploring women’s work in the household with housing conditions. She’s developed innovative and cultural appropriate approaches for policy makers to recognize women's domestic labor and its impact on individual and community health. In Dr. Habib’s research on migrant agricultural workers, she pursued new lines of inquiry about gender in farmworker populations. Her research has provoked new advocacy on behalf of farm workers and agricultural communities in Lebanon. This includes her support for the rights of these workers to basic labor protections, as well as broader state recognition and support of marginalized worker populations. Dr. Habib has also been engaged in health research and advocacy on behalf of Lebanon’s refugee communities to compel public and policy attention on the relationship between levels of social and economic deprivation and a cascade of morbidities. As nationalism and the vilification of refugees continues to intensify, Dr. Habib’s research and advocacy to vulnerable worker populations is particularly essential. Its relevance is obvious to workers in Lebanon but is also contributing to broader regional and global debates on development policies, geopolitics, and health. Every year, the OHS Section presents four award at the APHA Annual Meeting. These awards are granted to highly deserving individuals or organizations that provide tireless advocacy for the health and safety of workers in the U.S. and internationally. The OHS Section is involved in preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, disabilities and deaths through research, training, treatment, advocacy and policymaking. The OHS Section is one of the oldest within APHA, advocating for the health, safety and well-being of workers, families, communities and the environment since 1914. The OHS Section provides leadership and expertise on occupational health matters, recognizing the intrinsic link between the work environment and the health and safety of families, communities and the environment at large.

Dr. Rima Habib, 2017 International Health and Safety Award, OHS Section, APHA

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