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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the
federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations
for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) in the Department of Health and
Human Services.
NIOSH Origins and Mission
The Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970 created both NIOSH and the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is in the U.S. Department
of Labor and is responsible for developing and enforcing workplace safety
and health regulations. NIOSH is in the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services and is an agency established to help assure safe and healthful
working conditions for working men and women by providing research, information,
education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health.
Information pertaining to the responsibilities of NIOSH are found in Section 22 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 CFR § 671). The Institute is authorized to:
- Develop recommendations for occupational safety and health standards;
- Perform all functions of the Secretary of Health and Human Services under Sections 20 and 21 of the Act
- • Conduct Research on Worker Safety and Health (Section 20)
- • Conduct Training and Employee Education (Section 21)
- Develop information on safe levels of exposure to toxic materials and harmful physical agents and substances;
- Conduct research on new safety and health problems;
- Conduct on-site investigations (Health Hazard Evaluations) to determine the toxicity of materials used in workplaces (42 CFR Parts 85 and 85a); and
- Fund research by other agencies or private organizations through grants, contracts, and other arrangements.
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 delegated additional authority to NIOSH for coal mine health research. The mine health and safety law authorized NIOSH to:
- Develop recommendations for mine health standards for the Mine Safety and Health Administration;
- Administer a medical surveillance program for coal miners, including chest X-rays to detect pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) in coal miners;
- Conduct on-site investigations in mines similar to those authorized for general industry under the OSH Act; and
- Test and certify personal protective equipment and hazard-measurement instruments.
NIOSH provides national and world leadership to prevent work-related illness, injury, disability, and death by gathering information, conducting scientific research, and translating the knowledge gained into products and services. NIOSH's mission is critical to the health and safety of every American worker.
The Burden of Work-Related Injury, Illness, and Death
On average, nearly 16 workers in the United States die each day from injuries sustained at work, and 134 die from work-related diseases. Daily, an estimated 11,500 private-sector workers have a nonfatal work-related injury or illness, and as a result, more than half require a job transfer, work restrictions, or time away from their jobs. Approximately 9,000 workers are treated in emergency departments each day because of occupational injuries, and approximately 200 of these workers are hospitalized. In 2004, workers' compensation costs for employers totaled $87 billion.
Strategic Goals
NIOSH objectives include:
- Conduct research to reduce work-related illnesses and injuries.
- Promote safe and healthy workplaces through interventions, recommendations and capacity building.
- Enhance global workplace safety and health through international collaborations.
NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors
The Board is composed of renowned scientists from a variety of fields related to occupational safety and health. The Board members provide advice and guidance to the Institute in developing and evaluating research hypotheses, systematically documenting findings, and disseminating results that will improve the safety and health of workers. They also evaluate the degree to which NIOSH activities: (1) conform to standards of scientific excellence in accomplishing objectives in occupational safety and health; (2) address currently relevant needs in the field of occupational safety and health, either alone or in collaboration with activities outside of NIOSH; and (3) produce their intended results in addressing important research questions in occupational safety and health, both in terms of applicability of the research findings and dissemination of the findings
See the NIOSH Strategic Plan Outline 2004-2009 for more information.
See information on NIOSH Values.
NIOSH Locations
NIOSH is headquartered in Washington,
DC, with research laboratories and offices in Cincinnati,
OH, Morgantown, WV, Pittsburgh,
PA, Spokane, WA and Atlanta,
GA. NIOSH is a professionally diverse organization with a staff of
over 1,400 people representing a wide range of disciplines including epidemiology,
medicine, industrial hygiene, safety, psychology, engineering, chemistry,
and statistics.
Contacts and Organization Chart
NIOSH Research
NIOSH scientists work in multidisciplinary teams and carry out a focused
program of intramural and extramural research to prevent or reduce work-related
injury and illness. In 1996, NIOSH and over 500 partners established the
National Occupational Research Agenda
(NORA) , a framework to guide the efforts of the occupational safety
and health community in 21 priority research areas. NORA encompasses research
areas such as traumatic injury, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, hearing loss, and control technologies. These priority areas
were identified through extensive input from NIOSH’s federal and
non-federal partners. Since 1996, NIOSH has aligned its intramural and
extramural research to increase its investment in NORA priority areas.
Other Research Links:
Recent Research Accomplishments
NIOSH research has brought about important progress in occupational safety
and health. NIOSH has:
- Developed virtual reality technology to simulate elevated workplaces
to better study the risk factors for initiating a fall, the major cause
of workplace fatalities in the construction industry.
- Evaluated the effectiveness of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation
to prevent the transmission of tuberculosis in health care settings.
- Evaluated state-of-the-art lifting equipment to eliminate low-back
injuries among nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants.
- Identified industries and occupations with increased risk for COPD
and estimated the proportion due to workplace exposures by industry
and occupation.
Defined the current state of noise control technology for the mining
industry and conducted over 3600 audiometric tests while training workers
to protect their hearing.
To find out more about recent NIOSH research go to NIOSH Programs in Brief
NIOSH Prevention, Surveillance, and Training and
Communication Programs
- The NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) Program responds to requests
for workplace evaluations from employers, employees and their representatives,
and other agencies. Through the HHE program, NIOSH identifies current
hazards and recommends practical, scientifically valid solutions for
reducing exposures and preventing disease, injury, and disability. A
recent HHE involved an investigation of an outbreak of a rare respiratory
disease at a microwave popcorn processing plant in Missouri. NIOSH determined
that the workers’ illness was due to exposure to inhaled vapors
from artificial butter flavorings. The company instituted NIOSH recommendations
to protect its workers, and NIOSH scientists continue laboratory and
outreach efforts to further characterize the nature and the scope of
the problem.
- In 1998, NIOSH established the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation
and Prevention Program to reduce fire fighter lineof- duty deaths and
injuries through surveillance, investigations of fatalities, and development
and dissemination of practical recommendations. Individual reports from
the program are disseminated to over 25,000 volunteer and career fire
departments across the country.
- The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) was
established at the NIOSH Pittsburgh site to provide leadership for the
prevention of injury and illness among workers who must rely on personal
protective equipment, including respirators, gloves, and hard hats.
NPPTL's strategic research program will ensure that the development
of new personal protective equipment will meet real needs as work settings,
technologies, and worker populations change and new threats emerge.
- NIOSH conducts and supports a variety of programs to track occupational
injuries and illnesses. These include the Sentinel Event Notification
System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR), which is a collaborative effort
with state health departments to improve the recognition and prevention
of occupational sentinel health events, such as asthma, silicosis, amputations,
burns, dermatitis, and noise-induced hearing loss. NIOSH also supports
the Adult Blood Lead Epidemiology and Surveillance Program (ABLES) in
over two thirds of the states. Through ABLES, states track and respond
to cases of excessive lead exposure and develop broader intervention
activities.
- Established in 1990, the NIOSH Agricultural Centers Program provides
a national resource to address agricultural health and safety problems
through research, education, prevention, and intervention efforts. In
2001, nine regional Centers nationwide developed over 370 collaborative
programs with other regional and national agricultural organizations.
- NIOSH supports training of occupational safety and health professionals
and researchers through 16 regional Education and Research Centers (ERCs)
and 35 Training Project Grants (TPGs) in 22 states and Puerto Rico.
These programs are critical for meeting the increasing demand for occupational
physicians, occupational nurses, industrial hygienists and other safety
professionals. The ERCs also provide education to practicing professionals
through extensive continuing education programs.
- The NIOSH Web site provides access to the full range of NIOSH information
and publications. In 2002, the site supported nearly 500,000 visitor
sessions a month and the average monthly page views totaled 1.75 million.
NIOSH is also communicating occupational safety and health information
in Spanish through NIOSH en Español.
NIOSH Services
State Activities
As part of its mission, NIOSH operates programs in every state to improve
the health and safety of workers. As part of these State Activities, NIOSH:
- Evaluates workplace hazards and recommends solutions when requested
by employers, workers, or state or federal agencies;
- Builds State worker safety and health capacity through grants and
cooperative agreements;
- Funds occupational safety and health research on a wide variety of
topics at universities and other organizations; and
- Supports occupational safety and health training programs.
For more information on state programs see the NIOSH
state activities page.
NIOSH and OSHA
NIOSH was established by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
which also established the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA). Although NIOSH and OSHA were created by the same Act of Congress,
they are two distinct agencies with separate responsibilities. NIOSH is
in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is a research
agency. OSHA is in the U.S. Department of Labor and is responsible for
creating and enforcing workplace safety and health regulations. NIOSH
and OSHA often work together toward the common goal of protecting worker
safety and health.
NIOSH is committed to a workplace where all people are respected as individuals and are valued for their contributions to accomplishing its mission. The NIOSH vision for diversity is to enhance the organization's ability to attract, recruit, hire, mentor, develop, retain, and serve a diverse population by fostering an inclusive environment that embraces, values and respects all individuals.
Data Sharing and Privacy
The CDC/ATSDR
Policy on Releasing and Sharing Data ensures that NIOSH routinely
provides data to its partners for appropriate public health purposes and
that all data are released and/or shared as soon as feasible without compromising
privacy concerns, federal and state confidentiality concerns, proprietary
interests, national security interests, or law enforcement activities.
CDC Privacy Rules - NIOSH
complies with the CDC Privacy Rule. These regulations provide protection
for the privacy of certain individually identifiable health data.
NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors
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| National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Fact Sheet
DHHS(NIOSH) Pub. No. 2003-116
2003-116.pdf 
2 pages, 800 kb
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