Every day in Texas, an average of 2.1 people go to work and don't come home. They die in the workplace—from fire, drowning, getting caught in heavy machinery, being assaulted, and hundreds of other causes. Many more people are injured or get sick at work every day. Some of these injuries, illnesses, and deaths are unavoidable and unpredictable. There is no such thing as a perfectly safe environment. But many of them were preventable, or should have been, or should be in the future. 

In this issue of Texas Health Journal, we are looking at some of the occupational health physicians, researchers, and managers at UT institutions who work every day to reduce the number and severity of injuries and illnesses in workplaces in Texas and beyond. It's strategic, long-term, mostly preventive and precautionary work that doesn't always get the recognition it deserves because when it succeeds, it's invisible. As "Safety Bob" Emery says, a good day in occupational health is a day when nothing happens. This is true whether shrimp fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, cutting sugar cane in Costa Rica, or providing healthcare inHouston or Austin.

One of the goals of Texas Health Journal is to highlight and celebrate both the work that is already, deservedly, getting a lot of attention, and the equally deserving but lower profile work that functions behind the scenes to keep us safe and healthy. If you have stories, projects, or people at your institution that fit either of those bills, please  and let us know.