(The terms listed in this section are provided to give
the reader a clearer understanding of key terms in the
text.)
Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance
(ABLES):
a surveillance system for identifying and preventing cases of
elevated blood levels among workers in the U.S. Twenty-eight States
participated in ABLES in 1999 by collecting lab-reported blood lead
results and by targeting high risk industries and occupations,
physicians, workers, and work-sites for outreach, intervention, and
research.
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
(ASTHO):
a non-profit Public Health Organization with representatives from
State and Territorial health agencies. ASTHO works on national health
policy and develops and implements State programs and policies. It is
engaged in a wide range of legislative, scientific, educational, and
programmatic issues and activities on behalf of public health.
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
(BRFSS):
a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) coordinated,
State-based, continuously conducted, telephone-administered health
survey that monitors risk behaviors related to chronic diseases,
injuries, and death. Questions focus on health behaviors related to
several leading causes of death and disease, for example: using condoms
to prevent the spread of AIDS, taking medication for high blood
pressure, smoking or using tobacco, getting a mammogram, and not
exercising on a regular basis.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
a statistical agency within the Department of Labor that collects,
processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data in the
broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS also serves as a
statistical resource to the Department of Labor.
Case-based surveillance:
the collection of personal identifiers for the purpose of follow-up
studies or investigations. (See registry.)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC):
one of eight Federal public health agencies within the Department
of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The CDC, and its 11 Centers,
Institutes, and Offices, promotes health surveillance to monitor and
prevent disease, injury, and disability. It maintains national health
statistics, conducts research, and provides service towards illness and
injury prevention.
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI):
a national census of occupational injury fatalities, including
self-employed workers, agricultural workers, and government employees.
CFOI, developed and maintained by BLS, uses multiple sources of
information, e.g. death certificates, OSHA reports, workers'
compensation data, police reports, and newspaper clippings. CFOI is a
Federal/State cooperative program in which costs are shared. States
provide data to BLS for inclusion in a national database and maintain
their own State databases. Data are currently available for the years
1992-1998.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC):
a Federal regulatory agency that works to reduce the risk of
injuries and deaths from consumer products through: developing
voluntary standards with industry; issuing and enforcing mandatory
standards; banning consumer products if no feasible standard would
adequately protect the public; obtaining the recall of products or
arranging for their repair; conducting research on potential product
hazards; informing and educating consumers through the media, State,
and local governments, private organizations, and by responding to
consumer inquiries.
Coal Workers' X-ray Surveillance Program
(CWXSP):
an ongoing, congressionally- mandated program to provide periodic
chest x-rays to working underground coal miners for the purpose of
identifying early pneumoconiosis and facilitating transfer of affected
workers to a job with lower dust levels. The program has been in effect
since 1970.
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
(CSTE):
an organization whose membership includes State and Territorial
epidemiologists responsible for public health surveillance of diseases
and conditions of public health significance. The surveillance of
infectious diseases, chronic diseases and conditions, and occupational
and environmental health concerns are priority areas for
CSTE.
Data systems:
Systems include trauma registries, hospital discharge data,
emergency department records, private health insurer data systems,
existing health or behavior surveys, etc.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
a Federal agency whose purpose is to enforce Federal laws
protecting human health and the environment, and conduct environmental
research that reduces risk to human health and adverse impacts on the
environment. The EPA influences U.S. and global policies concerning
environmental and natural resources, as they pertain to human health,
economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and
international trade.
Epidemiology:
a discipline that studies the distribution and determinants of
health-related conditions or events in populations.
Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation
(FACE):
a NIOSH field investigation program with two arms: 1) a NIOSH/State
cooperative program in which 15 States conduct State censuses of fatal
occupational injuries and investigate specific types of these; and 2) a
NIOSH intramural program that investigates specific types of fatalities
at the request of 5 States or the Wage and Hour Division, US Department
of Labor. Fatalities currently targeted by the FACE Program are
machine-related events, deaths in street/highway construction work
zones, and deaths to youth less than 18 years of age (excluding motor
vehicle-related events and homicides).
Hazard:
a source of risk that does not necessarily imply potential for
occurrence. A hazard produces risk only if an exposure pathway exists
and if exposures create the possibility of adverse consequences.
Healthy People 2010 (HP 2010):
a Department of Health and Human Services initiative that provides
benchmarks for the progress of the health of Americans for the next 10
years, with supporting objectives in disease prevention and health
promotion.
International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD
10):
the 10th version of the International Statistical Classification of
Diseases and Related Health Problems. It was formalized in 1893 as the
Bertillon Classification or International List of Causes of Death. This
revision contains the classification at the three- and four-character
levels, the classification of the morphology of neoplasms, special
tabulation lists for mortality and morbidity, definitions, and the
nomenclature regulations.
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA):
a Federal agency that administers the provisions of the Federal
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) and enforces compliance
with mandatory mining safety and health standards.
Morbidity:
a term defined as either illness or disease. Morbidity rate is the
number of illnesses or cases of disease in a population over a given
period of time.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS):
a Center within the CDC that is responsible for the collection,
analyses, and dissemination of health statistics. NCHS has two major
types of data systems: systems based on population data collected
through personal interviews or examinations; systems based on
individual records, with data collected from State and local vital and
medical records.
National Center for Infectious Disease
(NCID):
a Center in the CDC whose mission is to prevent illness,
disability, and death caused by infectious diseases in the United
States and around the world. NCID accomplishes its mission by
conducting surveillance, epidemic investigations, epidemiologic and
laboratory research, training, and public education programs to
develop, evaluate, and promote prevention and control strategies for
infectious diseases.
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
(NCIPC):
a Center in the CDC whose mission is to reduce morbidity,
disability, mortality, and costs associated with non-occupational
injuries.
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System
(NEISS):
a data system maintained by the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) to monitor consumer product-related injuries, representing a
national sample of U.S. emergency departments. In an interagency
agreement with NIOSH, NEISS also collects and codes data on all
work-related injuries from emergency departments regardless of consumer
product involvement.
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS):
a cross-sectional household interview survey, administered by the
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is a principal
source of information on the health of the U.S. civilian population.
NHIS data are used to monitor trends in illness, injury, and disability
and to track progress toward achieving national health objectives.
National Health Interview Survey, 1988 Occupational Health
Supplement:
a survey that was administered in 1988 by the National Center for
Health Statistics (NCHS) to approximately 43,000 households. This
survey was developed to secure accurate statistical information on the
amount, distribution, and effects of specific occupational illness and
injury in the United States.
National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES):
an on-site nationwide survey conducted by NIOSH from 1981 to 1983
using a stratified probability sample of establishments in general
industry. The primary objective of the survey was to provide national
estimates of potential exposures to chemical, physical and biological
agents. The survey also provided data on management's health and safety
practices and policies. The NOES, and its predecessor NOHS, represent
the most comprehensive source of data on the number of U.S. workers
potentially exposed to specific hazards and the distribution of these
hazards by industry and occupation.
National Occupational Hazard Survey (NOHS):
an on-site nationwide survey conducted by NIOSH from 1972 to 1974
using a stratified probability sample of establishments in general
industry. The primary objective of the survey was to provide national
estimates of potential exposures to occupational health hazards by
industry and occupational group. The survey also provided data on
management's health and safety practices and policies. The NOHS, and
its successor NOES, represent the most comprehensive source of data on
the number of U. S. workers potentially exposed to specific hazards and
the distribution of these hazards by industry and occupation.
National Occupational Health Survey of Mining
(NOHSM):
an on-site nationwide survey conducted by NIOSH from 1984 to 1989
using a stratified probability sample of mineral mines. The primary
objective of the survey was to provide national estimates of potential
exposures to occupational health hazards by mineral industry and
occupational group. The survey also provided data on management's
health and safety practices and policies. The NOHSM represents the most
comprehensive source of data on the number of U.S. miners potentially
exposed to specific hazards and the distribution of these hazards by
mining industry and occupation.
National Occupational Mortality Surveillance System
(NOMS):
a mortality statistics database derived from public use vital
statistics data disseminated by the National Center for Health
Statistics. Since the early 1980s, NIOSH, NCHS, and the National Cancer
Institute have supported State vital statistics programs' collection
and coding of decedents' usual occupation and industry information.
NOMS uses data from these cooperating States, and States which received
cooperative agreements through early NIOSH State-based surveillance
programs. Usual occupation and industry of the decedent are coded
according to the Bureau of the Census classification system. Cause of
death is coded according to the 9th Revision of the International
Classification of Diseases.
National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA):
in 1996, NIOSH developed a national research agenda with 21 areas
of high priority research in collaboration with more than 500
individuals and organizations. The agenda is national in scope and is a
living plan (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/norhmpg.html). Surveillance
research is one of the priority areas.
National Surveillance System for Pneumoconiosis Mortality
(NSSPM):
an annually updated pneumoconiosis surveillance system developed by
NIOSH. The NSSPM includes information on all U.S. decedents with death
certificate mention of pneumoconiosis since 1968. It is based on death
certificate data files made available annually by the National Center
for Health Statistics (NCHS). Records, currently available for each of
more than 100,000 pneumoconiosis decedents, include information on
demographic characteristics, year of death, underlying and contributing
causes of death, and (since 1985 for deaths occurring in about half the
States) usual industry and occupation.
National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF)
Surveillance System:
a project that provides a nationwide surveillance system for
occupational injury deaths. NTOF is based on death certificates as a
sole source of case identification and has been estimated to include an
average of 81 percent of all occupational injury deaths nationwide.
NTOF data are currently available for the years 1980 through 1995. NTOF
is the most comprehensive source of data on occupational injury
fatalities prior to 1992.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA):
a Federal agency that administers the provisions of the Federal
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) and enforces
compliance with mandatory occupational safety and health
standards.
Prevention effectiveness:
a process to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention activities.
These assessments use decision analyses, meta-analysis, economic
analyses, and other methods to determine the effect of prevention
programs on public health.
Registry:
a system for collecting and maintaining in a structured record,
information on specific persons from a defined population with
specified health characteristics.
Risk:
the probability that a disease, injury, condition, death or related
occurrence may occur for a person or population.
Sentinel Event Notification Systems for Occupational Risks
(SENSOR):
a NIOSH cooperative agreement program with State health
departments, or other State agencies in collaboration with State health
departments, which develops generalizable condition-specific strategies
for State-based surveillance of occupational diseases and injuries.
Efforts have focused upon standardization of variables collected by the
State programs, creation of software to facilitate adoption of the
surveillance systems by additional States, comparison of SENSOR
findings to other surveillance data sources, collaboration with CSTE on
building infrastructure for State-based surveillance, further
development of State-based hazard surveillance, and publication and
dissemination of SENSOR reports. A key focus of the SENSOR program is
to enhance the linkage between surveillance and intervention.
Social Security Administration (SSA), Office of Research,
Evaluation and Statistics (ORES):
provides ongoing statistical data and research analyses of the
old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) and Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) programs.
Special population at risk:
certain populations of workers are more likely to experience
increased risks of diseases and injuries in the workplace as a result
of biologic, social, and/or economic characteristics such as age, race,
genetic susceptibility, language, literacy, culture, and low income.
Examples of these workers are youth, elderly, people of color, migrant
workers, etc.
Surveillance:
the systematic, ongoing collection and/or acquisition of
information for occupational diseases, injuries, and hazards; analysis
and interpretation of surveillance data; dissemination of data or
information derived from surveillance to appropriate audiences for
prevention and control; and development of surveillance methodology.
Those projects that do not meet any of the above criteria, but do
support surveillance efforts are classified as programmatic support
activities.
Surveillance data:
this refers to the responses obtained for the variables or
attributes in the surveillance system.
Surveillance information:
this term is used interchangeably with surveillance data.
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII; a.k.a.
Annual Survey):
annual survey of a large sample of U.S. employers (approximately
250,000) maintained by BLS. The sample is drawn to provide national and
State estimates for those States that participate in this Federal/State
cooperative program (around 40). The annual survey excludes government
workers, the self-employed, and employees of small farms. Employers
report information from their injury and illness logs (for those
employers not required to keep logs, record keeping forms are provided
at the beginning of the study period).
Under-reporting:
this term refers to the undercounting of cases or events of
occupational exposure and/or diseases.
Under-representation:
the result when certain populations (e.g., people of color, youth,
elderly, disabled, etc.) have been either entirely excluded or
disproportionately represented.