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Work Organization and Stress-Related Disorders
Inputs: Partnerships and Stakeholders
Partnerships
Partnerships are integral to the NIOSH Cross-Sector Program on Work
Organization and Stress-Related Disorders. Input from customers and
stakeholder groups, who have inherent knowledge and concern about
the safety and health of workers across sectors of the economy, helps
in setting research priorities. Collaborative research with our partners
may include in-kind contributions that help to leverage NIOSH research
dollars. Partners also add expertise or specialized experience to
research teams, which benefits research, analysis, interpretation,
and communication of findings.
For information about partnering with the NIOSH Work Organization
and Stress-Related Disorders Cross-Sector Program, contact the Program
Coordinator. For general information about partnerships with NIOSH,
contact the NIOSH Office of
Research and Technology Transfer.
NIOSH is currently partnering with many organizations representing
industry, labor, government, and academia to develop and advance research
on work organization and stress-related disorders. The following list
is a sample of partners engaged with NIOSH in research and other activities
on these topics.
Academia
- University of Buffalo: Along with the Buffalo
Police Department and the Department of Justice, the University of
Buffalo is a partner with NIOSH in the design and implementation of
research on work organization and stress-related disorders in the high
stress occupation of police officers.
- University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute
(UMTRI): NIOSH is partnering with the UMTRI to conduct research
on the influence of stress and work organization on fatal traffic
accidents among couriers. UMTRI is conducting a search of a fatal
traffic accident database in support of the project.
- University of Illinois at Chicago: NIOSH is
partnering with the University of Illinois at Chicago and Chicago-based
community partners to design and conduct research on minorities’
occupational safety and health concerns.
- University of Miami, Florida State University, and Georgia
Institute of Technology: NIOSH is partnering with these three
universities in a multi-site study examining the influence of occupation
and job characteristics on cognitive functioning and the use of
technology in older adults.
Government
- National Science Foundation (NSF): In 2001, NIOSH
entered into an Interagency Agreement with the National Science
Foundation to administer a set of survey questions on the quality
of work life as part of the 2002 General Social Survey (GSS). The
GSS is a biannual, personal interview survey of U.S. households
conducted by the National Opinion Research Center and funded by
the NSF. The first GSS survey took place in 1972; since then, more
than 37,000 respondents have answered more than 3,500 different
questions. These surveys have been widely distributed and extensively
analyzed by social scientists around the world. The GSS contains
a standard core of demographic and attitudinal variables and topics
of special interest called "topical modules." A Board of Overseers,
composed of distinguished social scientists, monitors the GSS. Additionally,
the GSS is part of the International Social Survey Program, a continuing
program of cross national collaboration on surveys covering topics
important for social science research.
- Florida Department of Health (FDOH): Following the
2004 Hurricane season, the FDOH requested technical assistance from the
University of Miami, the Uniformed Services University of the Health
Sciences, and the CDC, including NIOSH. The goal of this partnership is
to investigate the impact of the storms on the work effectiveness and
stress of the FDOH workforce and ways to improve the resilience of the
FDOH workforce in responding to these types of emergencies.
- Buffalo Police Department: See University of
Buffalo under Academia.
- Department of Justice: See University of Buffalo
under Academia.
- National Institute of Justice (NIJ): NIJ has been a
partner with NIOSH on the Federal Interagency Task Force on Workplace
Violence Research and Prevention since January 2003. In this capacity,
NIJ has worked with NIOSH and the Task Force to provide a framework and
guidelines to reduce workplace violence.
Industry
- In-Home Supportive Services Consortium, San Francisco, CA:
The In-Home Supportive Services Consortium is a nonprofit
agency that provides in-home services to medically and/or functionally
impaired adults to enable them to continue living in their homes as long
as possible. The Consortium is participating in a NIOSH study aimed at
identifying and reducing work hazards in home health care. The
Consortium is facilitating the administration of study surveys, work
observations in home settings, and evaluations of assistive devices for
enhancing safety while lifting and moving patients.
International
- National Institute of Industrial Health (NIIH), Japan:
In 2001, NIOSH and NIIH entered into an agreement to collaborate
in research on preventing work-related diseases and improving the
health of workers. Under the auspices of this agreement, NIOSH and
NIIH scholars have collaborated in studies of work organization
and stress-related disorders. Numerous scientists from NIIH have
presented seminars at NIOSH in support of these studies, and a leading
scientist from NIIH has joined NIOSH as Research Fellow in the period
2004–2007.
Labor
- United Mine Workers of America (UMWA): The UMWA has
assisted NIOSH researchers with multiple facets of an ongoing research
project “Workplace
Stress Among Underground Coal Miners.” UMWA contributions include
assisting with (1) development of a stress survey for the project, (2)
union miners’ participation in a focus group to discuss workplace
stress, (3) review of the survey instrument, and (4) arranging data
collection from miners at various sites.
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU): SEIU
has assisted NIOSH in conducting a study aimed at identifying and
reducing work hazards in home health care. They have assisted in
arranging survey administrations for home care workers, including
Chinese-, English-, Russian-, and Spanish-speaking workers at various
sites.
- Buffalo, NY Police Benevolent Association (PBA):
The Buffalo, NY PBA is assisting NIOSH in a study aimed at identifying
and reducing organizational and field aspects of police work that
may lead to poor health and development of disease. The Association
is aiding in recruitment of police officers, disseminating of information
about the study, and encouraging all members to take part.
Nongovernmental Organizations
- American Psychological Association (APA): NIOSH has
worked in partnership with APA since 1986 to advance understanding of
organizational risk factors for work-related stress, illness, and
injury, and ways to reduce these risks. This partnership has included
APA participation with NIOSH on (1) scientific panels to develop
research agendas addressing these issues, (2) co-sponsorship of six
international conferences on work, stress, and health, (3) collaboration
in development and administration of graduate and post-graduate
university training programs in occupational health psychology, and (4)
collaboration in founding the Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, which is one of only two journals featuring research on
occupational stress and related topics.
- Pacific Health Research Institute (PHRI): NIOSH is
partnering with PHRI to design and implement research related to work
organization factors and stress-related diseases in a population-based
study of Asian-American men that has been ongoing for more than 30
years. This partnership has allowed NIOSH to examine clinical exam and
survey data to determine relationships between disease and workplace
exposure to chemicals. In this continuing endeavor, NIOSH investigators
will now examine these databases to determine possible relationships
between workplace organization and disease development.
Professional and Trade Organizations
- American Nurses Association (ANA): NIOSH is
partnering with ANA to conduct research on safety and health in relation
to work schedules in nurses. The ANA helped demonstrate the need for
this research, develop study methods, and establish a plan for
communicating and disseminating research findings.
- National Safety Council (NSC), Research and Statistical
Services: NIOSH is partnering with NSC to conduct a
transportation pilot project on risk factors leading to injuries among
female package delivery drivers. NSC’s supporting activities include
conducting both a focus group meeting with a leading package delivery
company and a search of four databases of fatal and nonfatal injury
events. Information from NSC research will inform research efforts to
identify work organization and stress-related risk factors related to
package-delivery tasks.
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NIOSH Program Portfolio:
Work Organization and Stress-Related Disorders
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