Chapter 4 addresses the improvements to mineworker safety and health that are predicted to occur over the next five years, as a direct result of the research and prevention activities of the NIOSH Mining Program. The organization of this chapter is similar to the format used in Chapter 3, and many of the same issues discussed in the Overview to that chapter apply here as well. In Chapter 4, the forecasted accomplishments are based on:
- the critical assumption that resources and processes similar to the ones used over the past five years will be continued over the next five years;
- the outputs that have occurred in recent years and appear to be on their way to an intermediate impact; and
- ongoing project outputs, which are expected to lead to intermediate outcomes.
Section 4.2 describes the safety and health accomplishments anticipated over the next five years for each strategic goal of the Mining Research Plan (for more information about this plan, refer to Section 1.5.) This section begins with a list of the seven strategic goals and the future strategic program outcomes expected to be produced as the research results for each goal are implemented. Within each goal are 4 to 16 potential intermediate outcomes that support the future strategic program outcomes. These potential intermediate outcomes are expected if currently active research projects are concluded successfully, and the results are implemented by the intended customers. For each potential intermediate outcome, there is a brief description of the problem, research approach, intermediate outcome expected from the research, and a list of past and planned outputs, which will contribute to the potential outcome. Both past and planned outputs are included since these research projects are in progress. In summary, the hierarchical structure of this section is as follows:
Section 4.3 is a database of outputs which are expected to result from the current research projects or planned follow-up projects over the next five years. The outputs are research products which communicate the results of the research to the public and potential users of the results. Each item in this database includes a title, year produced, type of output, and the strategic goal toward which it is directed. Many of these planned outputs will contribute to the achievement of the future potential intermediate outcomes and are also listed with those items. The planned outputs are based primarily on current active research projects, and the outputs from these projects are expected in the next 2 or 3 years as most of these project reach their planned conclusion. As a result the number of planned outputs diminishes each year. We expect that the actual number of outputs will be the same or larger, if available resources remain the same. However, it is difficult to be specific in planning outputs from possible future research projects, which have not yet been formally proposed, reviewed or approved.