NIOSH Program Portfolio

Construction

Inputs: NIOSH Strategic Goals

The NIOSH Construction Program uses strategic goals to guide our research and partnership efforts over the next decade.

Goals identify specific outcomes that NIOSH wants to target, performance measures for evaluating progress in meeting the outcome goals, and intermediate goals to describe the necessary steps that need to be performed to accomplish the goal. Setting goals is challenging for the following reasons:

• It forces us to focus on a subgroup of issues where we think NIOSH can make an impact - a long list would spread our resources too thin to accomplish the goals. Not every worthwhile topic can be included.
• It is difficult to develop performance measures. Available injury statistics have limitations, and exposure and health outcome measures are typically not available.
• It is ambitious for NIOSH to set goals to achieve outcomes such as reductions in a national fatality rate. NIOSH is a research agency so we don't often directly influence outcomes - we must partner well and influence other groups to show results.

NIOSH and NORA Program Portfolio Approach

NIOSH has been organizing research, guidance, information, and service efforts into specific programs that can be readily communicated and strategically governed and evaluated. Eight NORA Sector Programs represent industrial sectors, and twenty-four Cross-sector Programs organized around adverse health outcomes, statutory programs and global efforts.

The NORA Sector Programs intersect with Cross-Sector Programs in a matrix-like fashion. For example, an Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program goal of reducing farm-related deaths and injuries due to tractor rollovers and trucks would likely be a shared goal with the Transportation Program and if appropriate would be adopted by both programs. This approach provides an added advantage and will allow multiple Programs to work towards accomplishment of intersecting goals.

Each of the 32 programs in the NIOSH Program Portfolio has a Manager and Coordinator. Each of the 8 NIOSH Sector Programs facilitates the work of a NORA Sector Council to engage external stakeholders in the process of developing sector goals for the nation and methods to measure the short-term, intermediate and long-term outcomes arising from those goals. The NORA goals for the nation will be considered when choosing NIOSH sector program goals. Cross Sector programs have internal Steering Committees that develop program goals and monitor outcome measures.

These planning efforts will position NIOSH to align with the most current governmental approaches for evaluating program effectiveness, i.e., the Program Assessment Rating Tool (or PART). PART is a mechanism to hold governmental agencies accountable for accomplishing results. As part of our comprehensive approach to performance measurement, NIOSH has engaged the National Academies to independently evaluate our sector and cross-programs for relevance and impact.

NORA Construction Program Goals

NIOSH developed draft  strategic goals for the Construction Program in 2004-2005 prior to initiation of the NORA sectors.  The goals were provided as NIOSH input to the NORA Construction Sector Council effort to develop NORA goals.  During the 2006 -2008 timeframe, the NORA Construction Sector Council developed fifteen strategic goals which make up a “National Construction Agenda”.

These NORA goals are intended for the industry and the nation. NIOSH will use these goals to target intramural and extramural construction research efforts.  

NIOSH Program:

Construction

Program Description
Inputs
• Sector Description
• Economic Factors
• Occupational Risks
• National Research Agenda (NORA)
• NIOSH Strategic Goals
• Partners
• NIOSH Contacts
Activities
• NIOSH Research Projects
• NIOSH Funded Research Grants
Outputs
• Publications
• Topic Pages
• Research to Practice
• Conferences
Outcomes
Review & Evaluation
• Program Review
• National Academies Evaluation