Volume
3 Number 12 April 2006
|
Volume
3 Number 12 April 2006 |
 |
||
|
||
NIOSH eNews Web page |
To subscribe, click here |
Printer Friendly Version |
|
||
 |
|
NIOSH and MSHA to Hold Mining Escape, Shelter Workshop Private Sector Partnerships Invited for NIOSH Permeation-Calculation
Software, Power-Tool Noise Research NIOSH Scientists Awarded by Professional Associations |
|
The
Value of Safety and Health Initiatives to Businesses MMWR:
Inhalation Anthrax Associated with Dried Animal Hides Permanent
Director Named at NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology
Laboratory NIOSH
Funds Tractor Safety Initiative NIOSH
Cincinnati Employees Participate in National Heart Disease Awareness
Campaign |
|
|
| NIOSH Office of Extramural Programs Nanotechnology r2p Corner NIOSH signs agreements with autoworkers and nurses associations NORA |
|
News
From Our Partners Communication
Products The Air Quantity Estimator (AQE): A New Computer Software Tool for Large-opening Mine Ventilation Planning, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2006-124 Upcoming
Events |
|
2006 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference AIHce 2006 and VENT 2006 Call for Abstracts for December Nanotechnology Conference 1st American Conference on Human Vibration 13th International Respiratory Protection of Healthcare Workers and Emergency Responders Acronym
of the Month |
|
|
As NIOSH prepares to celebrate the success of the first decade of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) and launch the second decade at the NORA Symposium 2006, we should also note that another significant anniversary occurs this month. Thirty-five years ago, NIOSH and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) opened for duty. The agencies were created under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which was enacted on December 29, 1970, and went into effect 120 days later. In the 35 years since NIOSH and OSHA came into being, much has changed in the world, in the workplace, and in occupational safety and health research. While no one could have predicted all of those changes from the vantage point of 1970, the architects of the Act were far-seeing, nevertheless. They knew that a world-class research agency was needed not only to address the nation’s immediate occupational safety and health concerns, but also to keep pace with the developments that were sure to occur as the U.S. moved through the latter quarter of the 20th Century into the 21st Century. NIOSH has worked hard to fulfill those responsibilities. Here are some of the ways in which the Institute has contributed to advancements in safe and healthy workplaces since April 1971:
While it isn’t any easier to predict the future in 2006 than it was in 1971, we know that several trends are likely to shape the U.S. workplace in coming years. The increasing diversity of the U.S. workforce, the growing complexity of work organization, and the ongoing demands of emergency preparedness will continue to challenge our ingenuity. As the mining disasters earlier this year reminded us, persistent concerns remain in traditional workplaces, as well. We think that the initiatives that now define NIOSH’s research mission – from r2p to NORA, the NIOSH program portfolio, and the WorkLife Initiative – position us well to meet the challenges that lie ahead. A special observance
of NIOSH’s
35th Anniversary is part of the NORA Symposium 2006, scheduled
to be held later this month in Washington, D.C. Please see the NIOSH
Web page for further details at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/symp06/agenda.html.
We hope that you can join us. |
NIOSH
and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will hold a workshop
on April 18, 2006 in Washington, DC, on mine escape planning and emergency
shelters. The topics for discussion include a recent history of mine
escapes and the use of emergency shelters, warning systems and the
use of self-rescue devices and lifelines, how mine design has changed
since the 1980s, shelter placement in the mine, configuration and construction,
life support instrumentation, communication and training. The workshop
will be held at the National Academy of Sciences Auditorium, 2101 Constitution
Avenue NW from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. You can register for the workshop
by contacting Donna Opfer at DOpfer@cdc.gov or John Sporrer at JSporrer@cdc.gov. |
Private
Sector Partnerships Invited for NIOSH Permeation-Calculation Software,
Power-Tool |
Opportunities were recently announced for new Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) related to two NIOSH initiatives.
|
|
NIOSH,
the American Society of Safety Engineers, the National Safety Council
(NSC), the World Health Organization and the Robert W. Campbell Award
are collaborating with the editors of the Journal of Safety Research to issue a call for papers to promote studies which address the value
of safety and health initiatives to businesses. The call is extended
to papers that report the results of field research, empirical studies,
evaluations, case studies or other research methods developed to identify
evidence, demonstrate trends, and uncover other research showing the
intrinsic value of investing in sound safety and health systems. More
information is available on the NSC Web site, http://www.nsc.org/Lrs/res/callforpapers.htm. |
|
Permanent Director Named at NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory |
|
|
NIOSH Cincinnati Employees Participate in National Heart Disease Awareness Campaign |
 Employees
at NIOSH laboratories in Cincinnati, Ohio participated in the National
Wear Red Event in February to show their support for women’s heart
disease awareness. National Wear Red Day is part of the Heart Truth campaign,
an awareness campaign for women about heart disease sponsored by the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The NIOSH employees were part
of a local effort in Cincinnati coordinated through the Federal Women’s
Program, a Special Emphasis Program operated under the Office of Equal
Employment Opportunity Council; the Cincinnati Health Units, operated
under Federal Occupational Health; and the Health Promotion Committee,
operated locally under the Office of Administrative and Management Services.
For additional information, please visit NHLBI’s Web site at http://www.hearttruth.gov. |
|
|
NIOSH signs agreements with autoworkers and nurses associations On March 22, 2006,
NIOSH signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Association of
peri-Operative Registered Nurses (AORN) during their 53rd Congress
in Washington, D.C. Under the agreement, NIOSH and AORN will work
to identify emerging workplace safety issues, develop effective guidelines,
and disseminate prevention and safety strategies for those working
in peri-operative areas, areas where operative or other invasive procedures
are performed. |
 New
journal article reviews ways for establishing occupational safety and
health research prioritiesA new review article published in the journal Industrial Health illustrates the importance of stakeholders in establishing standard methods for prioritizing occupational safety and health research. Research Priorities in Occupational Safety and Health: A Review (Volume 44, pp. 169-178) by Sergio Iavicoli, Bruna Rondinone, Alessandro Marinaccio and Marilyn Fingerhut compares methods, approaches and results from the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) and agendas developed in Europe and Asia and by the World Health Organization. The majority of these agendas utilized the Delphi technique to gauge input from experts, in this instance parties involved in safeguarding workers’ safety and health. Through the Delphi technique, a group of experts rate one or more topics through an iteration process, in successive rounds until a consensus is reached. The full article can be accessed at http://www.niih.go.jp/en/indu_hel/2006/pdf/indhealth_44_1_169.pdf. |
Applications
being accepted for AIHA 2006 Future Leaders Institute Program |
NIOSH has released two issues of NIOSH Technology News, with new information from the NIOSH mining research program:
|
2006 NORA Symposium: Research Makes a Difference International Mining Health and Safety Symposium 2006 Toxicology and Risk Assessment Conference AIHce 2006 and VENT 2006 Call for Abstracts for December Nanotechnology Conference 1st American Conference on Human Vibration 13th International Respiratory Protection of Healthcare Workers and
Emergency Responders |
NIOSH eNews on the Web: www.cdc.gov/niosh/enews/
NIOSH Home |
NIOSH Search | Site
Index | Topic
List | Contact
Us |
 |
 |
NIOSH Turns 35 This Month.
As
reported in the last issue of NIOSH eNews, NIOSH played a
role in designing and conducting environmental sampling for naturally
occurring anthrax spores in a recent case involving a New York artist
hospitalized in Pennsylvania. The March 17, 2006 issue of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) outlines the joint epidemiologic
and environmental investigation conducted by federal, state and local
public health, animal health and law enforcement officials in Pennsylvania
and New York City, which determined that the patient contracted anthrax
from working with dried animal hides. The report, which was co-authored
by NIOSH, can be accessed at 
The
appointment of Leslie (Les) Boord as the permanent director of NIOSH’s
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) was announced
on March 17 by NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. Mr. Boord had served
as acting director of the laboratory since 2005. Before joining NIOSH
in 2001, he started his own company preparing detailed computerized
estimates for restoration projects for major insurance companies. Prior
to that, he was senior vice president of National Draeger, Inc., managing
all marketing, sales and engineering aspects of that company. He received
his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1970 from
the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. From there, he went on to pursue
a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh
and graduated from there in 1972. Over the next several years, he completed
a number of graduate courses in Mechanical Engineering, also at the
University of Pittsburgh.
NIOSH
has awarded $504,000 to a consortium of university-based agricultural
safety and health research centers across the U.S. The funding under
a two-year NIOSH grant will help the centers build their capacity to
launch a national public health campaign for preventing deaths and
serious injuries from tractor overturns and other tractor-related incidents.
Under the National Agricultural Tractor Safety Initiative, the ten
centers will study the costs of injuries from farm tractor overturns
and highway collisions and identify who bears those costs; assess the
impact of changes in rollover protective structures (ROPS) standards,
regulations, and technology and their effect on future ROPS availability;
examine the acceptability of, and procedures for, financial incentives
to retrofit tractors with ROPS; and create a database of potential
partners to help guide the planned national campaign and launch an
intranet to facilitate communication about tractor safety among the
centers. Eight of the ten centers will test community-based social
marketing in 36 venues across the U.S. More information on the initiative
can be found at 
