NIOSH eNews Web site

eNews Celebrates Its 2^nd Anniversary
Thanks to you, our readers, NIOSH eNews observes its second anniversary with this issue. We are pleased that you look to us for latest information on NIOSH. To make sure that we remain vibrant and responsive to your interests, we invite your comments and suggestions on the contents and format of eNews. We also want to know what future topics you would like addressed.

• Would you like to see any changes in eNews, and if so, what would they be?
  
  
• Are there issues or program areas of interest to you that we haven't reported on?
  
  
• Other kinds of features you would like to see?

We want to make sure that eNews continues to meet your needs, and to do that, we want to know what you think. Please send your comments and suggestions to us at NIOSHeNews@cdc.gov.

Honoring the U.S. Worker
April 28 was international day of remembrance for workers killed or injured on the job.

Alice Hamilton Awards
Annual ceremony recognizes scientific excellence of NIOSH publications.

Dr. Sokas Accepts the Keogh Award
Honored for her passion and commitment to improving the health of workers.

MMWR: Safety Concerns of Anthrax Exposure
Reinforcing necessary safety precautions following inadvertent exposure to deadly spores.

New Study Reveals Indoor Hazard of Water-Damaged Buildings
Higher rates of asthma and respiratory symptoms reported.

Moving Research to Practice: NIOSH Signs Agreement with Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute
New agreement will help move NIOSH products into the field.

Environmental Conditioning Lab Debuts at NPPTL
Rigorous respirator certification testing now conducted at NIOSH facility.

NIOSH Seeks Public Comment on Expanded Chest Radiography Web site
Draft Web site available for comments through October 15, 2005.

NIOSH Seeking Centers of Excellence to Further Integration of Health Protection and Promotion
Deadline for request for applications is June 15, 2005.

r2p Corner

NIOSH Announces the Bullard-Sherwood Research to Practice Awards

NORA

Updated NORA Web site Seeks Your Suggestions

News from our Partners

2^nd Annual Health, Culture and Productivity workshop

New OSHA Publication

Communication Products

Vermiculite Topic Page

Two Workplace Solutions Publications Now Available in Spanish

Working Together for Safety Captures Lessons from a State Team Approach to Young Worker Safety

Upcoming Events

Occupational and Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals-2005

Fifth International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring

North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology (NAACT) 2005

Advanced Personal Protective Equipment - Challenges in Protecting First Responders

Internoise 2005

Work, Stress and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace

Acronym of the Month

  From the Director's Desk

I am pleased to announce our preparations for the second decade of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). NORA recently marked its ninth year, and we are preparing to launch the second decade of NORA at the NORA Symposium, April 17-20, 2006 in Washington, D.C.

Partnerships are fundamental to providing safe and healthy workplaces. Nowhere is this principle more vivid than NORA. Nearly a decade ago, over 500 participants from diverse interests and perspectives joined NIOSH to draft a common research vision for the nation. Before NORA, no national research agenda existed in the field of occupational safety and health, and no research agenda in any field had captured such broad input and consensus.

Moving to a sector-based approach
NIOSH again seeks your help to build on the previous success of NORA, while preparing the nation for future workplace safety and health challenges. The next decade of NORA will use a sector-based approach to better guide research to practice within workplaces.

NIOSH and its partners will form eight Sector Research Councils. There will also be a ninth Cross-sector Research Council that will address research needs affecting multiple sectors. The Sector Research Councils will have diverse membership from industry, labor, academia, government, and professional and trade associations. Each council will identify the highest priority safety and health concerns in their sectors or sub-sectors and, with stakeholder feedback, draft research goals, objectives, and action plans. With strong input the Research Councils will develop a set of strategic research agendas for the entire nation. These agendas will drive our actions to reach safe and healthy workplaces.

The Research Councils are:

• Agriculture, forestry, and fishing;
  
• Construction;
  
• Health care and social assistance
  
• Manufacturing;
  
• Mining;
  
• Services;
  
• Transportation, warehousing, and utilities;
  
• Wholesale and retail trade; and
  
• Cross-sector issues

This month’s NORA column contains more information about the grouping of sectors, which are based on the new North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Members of the NIOSH Board of Scientific Counselors and NORA Liaison Committee have shared their visions about the next decade of NORA. Now it is your turn. Please visit our NORA Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora to share your ideas about the future of occupational safety and health research. There you will find a stakeholder feedback form where you can submit your comments electronically. This month’s NORA column also contains more information about this new Web site.

NIOSH values your partnership and needs your help to advance research to practice in workplaces. I am committed to keeping NORA vibrant and responsive to ongoing changes in the U.S. workplace, and look forward to the increased synergy that these efforts will create. We will continue to keep you informed about the next phase of NORA via our NORA column in each month’s eNews. Please stay tuned to learn more about the development of research agendas, opportunities to participate in Research Councils, and our year-long celebration of NORA’s first decade.

   Honoring the U.S. Worker

Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28, was established in 1989 as an international day of remembrance for workers who died or were injured on the job. The day also commemorates the 34^th anniversary of NIOSH and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In the U.S., on average, nearly 11,000 workers are treated in emergency departments each day and approximately 200 of these workers are hospitalized. The April 29 issue of the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) focuses on occupational safety and health research and surveillance activities. Featured reports include Silicosis Mortality, Prevention and Control—United States, 1968-2002 and Update: Hydrogen Cyanamide—Related Illnesses—Italy, 2002-2004. The MMWR can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/mmwr/wkrmemday05.html.

   Alice Hamilton Awards

Dr. Alice Hamilton

On April 28, 2005 NIOSH presented the annual Alice Hamilton Awards recognizing the scientific excellence of technical and instructional materials by NIOSH scientists and engineers. Four NIOSH technical products were recognized for demonstrating superior scientific merit and providing outstanding NIOSH contributions in the following areas:

Educational Materials Category:
Winner: Sestito JP, Lunsford RA, Hamilton AC, and Rosa RR, eds. Worker health chartbook, 2004. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2004-146, September 2004.

Honorable Mention: Robertson SB, Mark C, Urban CW, and Caruso D. Make it safer with roof screen: video training module with instructional booklet, Pittsburgh, PA: US Dept of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2004.

Biological Sciences Category:
Winner: Biagini RE, Smith JP, Sammons DL, MacKenzie BA, Striley CAF, Robertson SK, and Snawder JE. Development of a sensitivity enhanced multiplexed fluorescence covalent microbead immunosorbent assay (FCMIA) for the measurement of glyphosate, atrazine and metolachlor mercapturate in water and urine. Anal Bioanal Chem, 379: 368-374, 2004.

Honorable Mention: Porter DW, Hubbs AF, Mercer R, Robinson VA, Ramsey D, McLaurin J, Khan A, Battelli, L, Brumbaugh K, Teass, A, and Castranova V. Progression of lung inflammation and damage in rats after cessation of silica inhalation. Toxicological Sciences, Vol. 79, pp. 370-380, 2004.

Engineering and Physical Sciences Category:
Winner: Dong RG, Schopper AW, McDowell TW, Welcome DE, Wu JZ, Smutz WP, Warren C, and Rakheja S. Vibration energy absorption (VEA) in human fingers-hand-arm system. Medical Engineering & Physics, 26(7): 483-492, 2004.

Honorable Mention: Chen, BT, Feather GA, Maynard A, and Rao C. Development of a personal sampler for collecting fungal spores. Aerosol Science and Technology, 38:926-937, 2004.

Human Studies Category:
Winner: Collins JW, Wolf L, Bell J, and Evanoff B. An evaluation of a "best practices" musculoskeletal injury prevention program in nursing homes. Injury Prevention, 10:206-211, 2004.

Additional information on the Alice Hamilton Awards can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hamilton.

   Dr. Sokas Accepts the Keogh Award

   MMWR: Safety Concerns of Anthrax Exposure

   New Study Reveals Indoor Hazard of Water-Damaged Buildings

NIOSH scientists and an outside colleague found that water-damaged facilities had a higher prevalence of asthma and other respiratory symptoms than expected. This research introduced more evidence that water damage contributing to mold and other microbial growth can negatively affect employees’ respiratory health and business productivity. The study is part of NIOSH’s ongoing research program to improve the understanding of indoor environmental quality, prevent building-related illnesses, and provide practical guidance for maintaining healthy buildings. The study, “Respiratory Morbidity in Office Workers in a Water-Damaged Building,” was published in the April 2005 issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.  It is available online at http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/7559/7559.html. More information on indoor environmental quality research at NIOSH is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/indoorenv.

   Moving Research to Practice: NIOSH Signs Agreement with Spokane Intercollegiate Research
   and Technology Institute

On April 28, 2005, NIOSH Director John Howard, MD and Kim Zentz, Interim Executive Director of the Spokane Intercollegiate Research & Technology Center (SIRTI) signed a Technology Assessment Agreement to advance the movement of NIOSH research into workplace practice. SIRTI is a Washington-State funded, economic development agency that advances the growth of emerging technology companies in the inland Northwest. Under the agreement NIOSH can offer, on a non-exclusive basis, the opportunity to SIRTI to commercialize technology developed by NIOSH. SIRTI will have the right of exclusive licensing of certain technology from NIOSH, if NIOSH deems that SIRTI is the best route to fulfill the commercial potential of the technology. The agreement marks the first instance of SIRTI evaluating and possibly commercializing technology from a Federal agency.

   Environmental Conditioning Lab Debuts at NPPTL

A new environmental conditioning laboratory facility now operational in NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) will advance NIOSH’s in-house capabilities in testing and certifying air-purifying respirators. Employers and users rely on NIOSH certification for assurance that a respirator will provide needed protection against hazardous and potentially life-threatening air contaminants. In the new facility, air-purifying respirators submitted for testing and certification are subjected to extreme conditions by being baked, frozen, steamed, dropped and shaken as part of testing. These conditions simulate conditions that devices may experience in actual field use. Performing these essential tests in-house will significantly reduce the amount of time a respirator spends in the certification process. Before, respirators were sent to the Edgewood, Md., Chemical and Biological Center (ECBC) facility of the U.S. Army for those tests. For more information on NPPTL and the NIOSH respirator certification program, visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/.

   NIOSH Seeks Public Comment on Expanded Chest Radiography Web site

NIOSH is inviting public comment on a draft expanded Web site describing the use of chest radiography for evaluating occupational lung disorders. NIOSH is inviting comments on the draft page at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/chestradiography until October 15, 2005.

Under a long-standing program, NIOSH certifies "B Readers," or physicians who review and classify chest X-rays to determine the presence and severity of lung disorders caused by work-related exposures to dusts such as asbestos, silica, and coal mine dust. NIOSH provides a test to determine physicians’ proficiency in making such determinations, based upon internationally recognized technical criteria. By passing the test, an applicant is certified by NIOSH as a B Reader. NIOSH’s previous Web site on chest radiography was primarily intended for physicians who were interested in applying for B Reader certification. The draft expanded page includes additional description, discussion, and links to resources for practitioners and general audiences.

   NIOSH Seeking Centers of Excellence to Further Integration of Health Protection and Promotion

NIOSH is inviting applications for up to $2 million in competitive funding through a new cooperative agreement program entitled, “Centers of Excellence to Promote a Healthier Workforce.” The new Centers of Excellence will conduct trans-disciplinary research, education, and translation programs which facilitate the integration of health protection and health promotion in the workplace by taking a collaborative and innovative approach. NIOSH intends to fund one to three awards in response to this request for applications (RFA). The deadline for receipt of applications is June 15, 2005 and the awards will be announced in September 2005. Applications will be reviewed in accordance with the NIOSH Office of Extramural Research (OEP) peer review policy. The RFA, which includes all necessary information for submitting an application, was published in the April 15, 2005 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guide for Grants and Contracts (RFA #OH-05-006). It can be accessed on the NIH Guide Web site http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html or under Cooperative Agreements on the NIOSH OEP Web site http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/oep/.

   r2p Corner

The first Bullard-Sherwood Research to Practice (r2p) Award for Outstanding Application of Occupational Safety and Health Research recognizes those projects which have successfully translated research findings through knowledge, interventions or technology into practice within the occupational safety and health arena. The award is named in honor of two distinguished individuals who made significant improvement in workplace injury and illness prevention. Edward W. Bullard invented the most widely used protective safety equipment, the hard hat, thus protecting countless workers from head injuries. R. Jeremy (Jerry) Sherwood invented the personal industrial hygiene sampling pump, making it possible to readily determine individual worker airborne exposures.

The 2005 winners are:

Knowledge
Winner: NIOSH Alert: Preventing Occupational Exposures to Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings

Honorable Mention: Reducing Underground Miners’ Exposure to Diesel Emissions and Understanding and Preventing Beryllium Sensitization and Chronic Beryllium Disease

Interventions
Winner: Standards Development for Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE) used by Emergency Responders at a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Terrorist Event

Honorable Mention: NIOSH Safety Checklist Program for Schools

Technology
Winner: Lockout/Tagout, Jammed, and Moving Machinery Controls

Honorable Mention: ROPS Technology Transfer Team

The nominations were judged on the basis of occupational safety and health relevance, impact in addressing needs, development of partnerships and identification of lessons learned. The winners were announced at the Alice Hamilton Awards Ceremony on April 28, 2005. To learn more about these innovative projects and view the NIOSH award winning scientists, visit the NIOSH Web site http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hamilton/bullard-sherwood.html.

   NORA

NIOSH and its partners under NORA are pleased to introduce a newly updated NORA Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora. An important feature of the updated page is an online feedback form. We hope both individuals and organizations will use this opportunity to submit comments and suggestions for guiding the design and implementation of the new NORA.

The Web site allows stakeholders to describe what they perceive to be the top research needs within each sector, sub-sector, or in multiple sectors. We invite partners and collaborators to use the electronic option to provide comments, which will automatically be entered into the NIOSH Docket for NORA.

Experience gained in the first decade of NORA indicates that the following types of information may help identify the areas where new research will make the greatest contributions to preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths:

• number of workers at risk,
  
• seriousness of the hazard, and
  
• probability that new information and approaches will make a difference.

Stakeholders can also contribute to developing the sector research agendas by providing

• the identification of industry sub-sector (NAICS codes with more than two digits), jobs and/or occupations involved;
  
• the type of new information or action that is needed, such as obtaining new knowledge, evaluating existing solutions, or moving known solutions into widespread practice;
  
• the types of partners whose contributions will be critically needed for driving new research

Alternatively, comments may be e-mailed to NIOCINDOCKET@cdc.gov or mailed to

Docket NIOSH-047
Robert A. Taft Laboratories (C-34)
4676 Columbia Parkway
Cincinnati, OH 45226

For more information please e-mail noracoordinator@cdc.gov.

NAICS Codes Provide Basis for New NORA System
You have met NORA. Now meet NAICS, if you aren’t already familiar with the acronym and the program that it represents. NIOSH has built the new NORA sector-based approach on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The government’s statistical agencies have adopted NAICS as the official industry classification system for North America, replacing the formerly used U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. NAICS codes provide an advantage over the old format, because they enable the comparison of business activity statistics throughout the North American continent.

NIOSH aggregated the 20 NAICS sectors into eight sector groups according to the similarity of their occupational safety and health issues. The NORA Web site lists the NAICS sectors identified in each sector group.

Click here to learn more about the NAICS system http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html.

   News From Our Partners

2^nd Annual Health, Culture and Productivity workshop
The NIOSH Southern California Education and Research Center and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Occupational and Environmental Health are cosponsoring the 2^nd Annual Health, Culture and Productivity workshop and seminar on June 14, 2005 at the UCLA Faculty Center. Under the theme, “Communities’ Needs for Promoting Occupational Health and Productivity,” the workshop will examine the needs and opportunities for several communities that are typically underrepresented, including primary care providers, immigrant workers, community-based organizations, organized labor and small businesses. More information on the workshop can be found at http://fm.mednet.ucla.edu/occupmed.

Solvent Exposure in Drycleaning Industry Prompts New OSHA Publication
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently published new guidance to reduce worker exposure to organic chemical solvents used in the drycleaning industry. Reducing Worker Exposures to Perchloroethylene in Dry-Cleaning provides information on the health hazards and current regulations related to the solvent, and addresses best practices to minimize worker exposure. The document can be found at http://www.osha.gov/dsg/guidance/perc.html.

   Communication Products

Vermiculite Topic Page
NIOSH information and publications related to vermiculite are now accessible through a new topic page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/vermiculite. Vermiculite has been an established commercial commodity for over 50 years. Miners and millers at a vermiculite ore mine near Libby, Montana became seriously ill following exposure to vermiculite contaminated with asbestos and asbestos-like fibers. This page provides information about NIOSH research activities and recommendations made following investigations at the mine.

Two Workplace Solutions Publications Now Available in Spanish
Two previously published NIOSH Workplace Solutions Publications are now available for download in Spanish, in addition to the English versions.

Workplace Solutions: Ground Fall Injuries in Underground Stone Mines http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/niosh/docs/2004-106sp.html

Workplace Solutions: Divers Beware: Training Dives Present Serious Hazards to Fire Fighters http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/niosh/docs/2004-152sp.html

Working Together for Safety Captures Lessons from a State Team Approach to Young Worker Safety
As the result of a cooperative agreement with NIOSH, the Education Development Center in Newton, MA spent three years working with New England states to pilot test a state team approach to addressing young worker issues through information and education activities. The experiences of those state teams are captured in a new NIOSH booklet, "Working Together for Safety." Case studies are included from New Hampshire and Connecticut that document creative collaborations among state agencies. The booklet features strategies for increasing the awareness of teens, educators, parents, employers, and health care providers. It is available for download at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2005-134.

   Upcoming Events

Occupational and Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals-2005
NIOSH, the Karolinska Institutet and the Stockholm County Council in Sweden are cosponsoring Occupational and Environmental Exposures of Skin to Chemicals-2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, June 12-15, 2005. The conference will focus on practical ways to better prevent local and systemic injury and disease caused by exposing skin to chemicals. More information on the conference is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/skin/OEESC2 or by contacting Sid Soderholm at SSoderholm@cdc.gov.

Fifth International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring
NIOSH, the National Institute for Working Life, Sweden, and the National Institute of Occupational Health, Norway will cosponsor the Fifth International Symposium on Modern Principles of Air Monitoring, June 12-16, 2005 in Loen, Norway. The scientific program will feature the latest developments in exposure assessment and strategies as well as analytical air sampling and measurement/monitoring methodologies. New for the Fifth International Symposium, the topic of biomonitoring will be addressed. More information on the symposium can be found at http://www.airmon.org or by contacting Martin Harper at MHarper@cdc.gov.

North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology (NAACT) 2005
The American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and the American Association of Poison Control Centers will host the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology 2005, September 9-14, 2005 in Orlando, Florida. The agenda features three NIOSH-related sessions: Developing an Occupational and Environmental Toxicology Research Agenda, Occupational/NIOSH Case Files, and an EPA/NIOSH/OSHA workshop on risk assessment and n-propyl bromide. More information on the conference can be found at http://www.clintox.org.

Advanced Personal Protective Equipment - Challenges in Protecting First Responders
The NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University are sponsoring Advanced Personal Protective Equipment - Challenges in Protecting First Responders. The conference will be held October 16-18, 2005 at the Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg, Va.

Attendees will learn about the hazards posed by emerging threats, the application of personal protective equipment (PPE) technology to these threats, and associated challenges with selecting and interfacing different PPE items. The emphasis of the conference will be on practical issues of threat accommodation, standards, regulations, applications of best practices, manufacturing and distribution issues, PPE decision-making and purchasing, and multi-PPE integration. More information on the conference can be found at http://www.conted.vt.edu/appe or by contacting Tom Fisher at TFisher@cdc.gov.

Internoise 2005
The 34^th International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering-InterNoise 2005 will be held August 7-10, 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The conference is sponsored by the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering I-INCE and organized by the Brazilian Acoustical Society (SOBRAC) and the Iberoamerican Federation of Acoustics. The conference theme is Environmental Noise Control. More information can be found at http://www.internoise2005.org.br/welcome.aspx.

Work, Stress and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace
NIOSH, the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Labor, will convene the sixth international conference on occupational stress and health, Work, Stress, and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace in Miami, Florida., March 2-4, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency Miami Hotel. The conference is designed to address the constantly changing nature of work, and the implications of these changes for the health, safety, and well-being of workers. In keeping with the conference theme of “making a difference in the workplace,” there will be a particular focus on the translation of research to practice and workplace programs, policies, practices, case experiences, and other efforts to prevent stress in today’s workplace. More information about the conference can be found at: http://www.apa.org/pi/work/wsh2006.html.

   Acronym of the Month

NAICS: The North American Industry Classification System was adopted by the government’s statistical agencies as the official industry classification system for North America.