The department shall develop a long range program for upgrading and expanding the resources of the State of California in the area of occupational health and medicine. The program shall include a contractual agreement with the University of California for the creation of occupational health centers affiliated with regional schools of medicine and public health. One such occupational health center shall be situated in the northern part of the state and one in the southern part. The primary function of these occupational health centers shall be the training of occupational physicians and nurses, toxicologists, epidemiologists, and industrial hygienists. In addition, the centers shall serve as referral centers for occupational illnesses and shall engage in research on the causes, diagnosis, and prevention of occupational illnesses.
The centers shall also inform the Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Industrial Relations, State Department of Health Services, and the Department of Food and Agriculture of their clinical and research findings.
(Added by Stats. 1978, Ch. 1245. Note: See changes set forth in Governor's Reorg. Plan 1 of 1991.)