Volume
3 Number 8 December 2005 |
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Public Invited to Comment on Construction Strategic Goals
and Performance Measures NIOSH
Staff Make Significant Contributions in Protecting Hurricane
Recovery and Relief Workers. Silver
Edition of the NIOSH Pocket Guide Estimating the Global Burden of Disease and Injury Due to Occupational
Risk Factors |
NIOSH
Seeks Public Comment on Draft Current Intelligence Bulletin Information
Resource to Facilitate Research on the Organization of Work NIOSH Signs MOU with Federal Fire Administration NIOSH DSHEFS Deputy Director Receives Gorgas Award Upcoming Public Meeting to Focus on Respirator Standards Upcoming Exhibits |
Ensuring that our programs are relevant and have real impact in the workplace is paramount to NIOSH. At the same time, as a scientifically robust organization, we are faced every day with professional and administrative challenges. We have a diverse program of research across many different disciplines. Our scientists and engineers work in several geographically dispersed locations, impeding their ability to network closely with each other. To meet those challenges by better coordinating our efforts, we have organized our portfolio into various specific categories that can be readily communicated and strategically governed and evaluated. The NIOSH Program Portfolio focuses on relevance, quality and impact. It relies heavily on your strong involvement, our partners and stakeholders, throughout the entire research continuum. The NIOSH Program Portfolio has been organized into eight sector programs under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) that represent different industrial sector groupings, and into fifteen cross-sector programs organized around adverse health outcomes, statutory programs and global efforts. In addition, NIOSH is organizing seven coordinated emphasis areas that support the sector and cross-sector programs. You can view the list of the 30 Programs at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/expa/sector.html The Program Portfolio will ensure that all NIOSH programs are coordinated with NORA and will unite researchers across NIOSH laboratories in seven states. The Portfolio of 30 interdependent programs addresses a common set of data-driven, stakeholder-involved, expert-informed, prioritized goals. Evaluation is crucial, so we have embedded performance criteria throughout the process. The programs are internally peer-reviewed and externally monitored by an independent process overseen by the National Academies. NIOSH is currently assigning Managers and Coordinators to each of the 30 Program Portfolio categories. In time, research councils for the NORA sector programs and steering committees for the cross-sector programs and coordinated emphasis areas will be formed. We will need our stakeholders and partners to become involved with these councils and committees to plan efforts leading to output and outcome goals and a timeline for assessing performance. Please watch the Program Portfolio topic page, on the link provided above, for additional information. In the next few weeks, we will be adding much more information to the page, providing further details and resources for each program category. We hope that this expansion will help you to stay better informed about our research strategies, and we hope it will stimulate your interest in becoming part of our planning process.
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Public Invited to Comment on Construction Strategic Goals and Performance Measures |
The NIOSH Construction program has developed draft strategic goals and performance measures to guide future NIOSH construction activities. You may view these items on the Construction program topic page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/construction. We encourage you to read these goals and measures and send comments and feedback to the NIOSH Construction Coordinator Matt Gillen at niosh-construction@cdc.gov. You are also invited to share your ideas for future research in construction
at the upcoming NORA town hall meeting in Chicago, IL on December 19.
The afternoon session will focus specifically on the NIOSH Construction
Program. Participants are also invited to share comments during the general
morning session. More details on the location of this and other upcoming
town halls meetings can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/townhall. |
NIOSH Staff Make Significant Contributions in Protecting Hurricane Recovery and Relief Workers |
About
100 NIOSH scientists and engineers were involved in Hurricane Katrina
response activities. Their efforts focused on immediate needs but opened many
doors for sustainable partnerships. NIOSH staff provided leadership on response
worker-safety and other occupational safety and health issues in the CDC Director's
Emergency Operations Center in Atlanta. As a part of CDC's assistance efforts
in the field, NIOSH also supported federal interagency coordination efforts
in Baton Rouge on occupational safety and health, provided guidance to officials
in the state of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans, and assessed health
and safety at worksites in New Orleans and in shelters in Texas. Additionally,
NIOSH scientists produced new, web-based interim documents on many issues critical
for the Katrina response, including debris burning, ventilation system clean-up,
health surveillance of workers, and mold exposures. The largest effort in terms
of staffing occurred in New Orleans, where NIOSH worked in tandem with its
other CDC colleagues through the CDC response effort. NIOSH teams of industrial
hygienists, medical officers, and engineers conducted outreach and provided
health and safety guidance to minority workers (Hispanic and Vietnamese), assessed
occupational illness and injury surveillance efforts, and conducted environmental
assessments of worksites including sampling for metals, asbestos, particulate
matter, respirable silica, and noise. In addition, they designed and carried
out a survey of illness, injury, and workplace stress in the New Orleans Police
Department and began planning a similar evaluation for the New Orleans Fire
Department. Although the acute phase of the hurricane response has largely ended,
NIOSH staff remain involved in ongoing Katrina-related issues. Moreover, they
are engaged in post-response evaluations to strengthen future emergency responses. |
NIOSH
has released a new edition of the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical
Hazards. The new edition is available as a printed book
(DHHS NIOSH Publication No. 2005-149), and as a CD-ROM (DHHS NIOSH
Publication No. 2005-151) and online at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/.
One of the main changes for this new edition of the Pocket
Guide, which has a silver cover, is that particulate respirator
recommendations have been updated. Also, the layout of the
paper version has been changed substantially to make the book easier
to read and use. In addition, the web version is now searchable. The
Pocket Guide contains important safety and health information for 677
chemicals that are encountered in the workplace. It was first
published in 1978 and has been revised and updated regularly since
then. In addition to the Pocket Guide, the CD-ROM also contains
several other databases, such as the 2004 Emergency Response Guidebook,
NIOSH and OSHA analytical methods, and the International Chemical Safety
Cards. Both the paper version and CD-ROM are available from
the NIOSH publications office by calling 1-800-35-NIOSH. |
Estimating
the Global Burden of Disease and Injury Due to Occupational Risk
Factors |
The
December 2005 Special Issue of the American Journal of Industrial
Medicine is dedicated to “The Contribution of Occupational Risk Factors
to the Global Burden of Disease.” The work was carried out as
part of a World Health Organization (WHO) Comparative Risk Assessment
analysis of 26 risk factors to the global burden of disease. The methodologic
requirements limited the risk factors that could be studied globally,
so that the individual articles account for about 800,000 of the estimated
2 million deaths that occur annually due to occupational risks. Individual
articles include addressing the global burden due to occupational carcinogens,
airborne particulates, noise, ergonomic risks for back pain, and risk
for traumatic injury; estimating the global burden of infectious disease
due to sharps injuries among healthcare workers; and examining previous
published estimates of global burden due to occupational risks. Three
articles focus on economic issues: cost effectiveness of workplace
interventions to prevent silicosis and back pain, and an economic model
used at company level to evaluate the net costs involved in prevention
of occupational back pain. Abstracts from articles in this Special
Issue can be found at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/34471. |
NIOSH Seeks Public Comment on Draft Current Intelligence Bulletin |
NIOSH is requesting public comment on the draft Current Intelligence Bulletin, "Evaluation of Health Hazard and Recommendations for Occupational Exposure to Titanium Dioxide." The draft document is posted on the NIOSH Web page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/preprint/tio2 for public comment by March 31, 2006. The draft document includes the following findings and recommendations on which NIOSH is seeking comments:
Comments on the draft document may be submitted to titanium-dioxide-comments@cdc.gov or
by using an online form available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/preprint/tio2/tio2cmnts.html.
NIOSH will hold a public meeting on the draft document on February 27,
2006. Details will be forthcoming in the Federal Register and eNews. |
Information Resource to Facilitate Research on the Organization of Work |
To
facilitate research on health and safety issues related to the organization
of work, a new NIOSH Web page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/workorg/tools,
hosts a searchable database and resource lists of assessment methods
for characterizing the organization of work. This information resource
aims to enhance research in the National Occupational Research Agenda
(NORA) Organization of Work priority area by providing a means for
researchers to quickly and easily identify available instruments for
measuring organizational characteristics that may be useful for advancing
research on the associations between work organization and worker safety,
health, and well-being. Expansion of the database and resource list
content is ongoing, and users and developers of work organization measures
are encouraged to nominate instruments for consideration. Information
about the instrument nomination process can be found on the Frequently
Asked Questions section of the Web page. |
NIOSH
and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) signed a memorandum of understanding
on November 21, 2005 to identify collaborative efforts the two agencies
can undertake with the goal of improving safety and health conditions
for fire fighters throughout the United States. The primary focus of
the agreement involves fostering the use of findings and recommendations
from the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program
in USFA fire fighter training materials and programs. More information
about the NIOSH program can be found at: www.cdc.gov/niosh/firehome.html and
more information about USFA training and education can be found at: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/training/nfa/.
The agreement was signed by NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D., and U.S.
Fire Administrator R. David Paulison. |
On
November 2, Laurence Reed received the Gorgas Award at the Association
of Medical Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) annual awards meeting
in Nashville, TN. Larry is the Deputy Director of the NIOSH Division
of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies (DSHEFS) and
holds the rank of Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public
Health Service. He was nominated for the award by Commissioned Corps
Rear Admiral Robert Williams for his “outstanding and sustained
leadership in occupational public health while serving with CDC/NIOSH”.
The Gorgas Award is named after Major General William Crawford Gorgas,
who played an instrumental public health role in the construction of
the Panama Canal in the early 1900s by leading efforts to eradicate
yellow fever in the Canal Zone. The Gorgas Medal recognizes individuals
for distinguished work in preventive medicine, clinical application,
education or research. |
NIOSH
will hold a public stakeholder meeting on December 13, 2005 at the
Sheraton Station Square Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA. The meeting will address
concepts for standards for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear
(CBRN) closed-circuit, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), CBRN
powered, air-purifying respirators (PAPR), and multi-function PAPRs.
Additional information and the registration form is available on the
NIOSH Web page at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/resources/pressrel/letters/lttr-121305.html. |
Look for the NIOSH Exhibit Booth at these upcoming conferences:
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NIOSH conducts research to prevent illness and injury among workers. Good stewardship requires research we conduct to be highly relevant, high quality, and result in maximum impact. As a means of focusing our research on these drivers, NIOSH research now follows a process called Research-to-Practice (r2p). Conducting research under r2p utilizes partnerships to help address relevance and evaluation to help ensure quality. Partnerships are utilized in all phases of the research process (frequently with different partners in the different phases) for several reasons: ensuring relevant issues are being addressed; identifying all appropriate stakeholders; and translating results into a format that is most useful for stakeholders. The number of formal partnerships with NIOSH has doubled during the last year. Evaluation – again in all phases of the research process – is used to ensure that the highest quality research is being planned, conducted, translated and disseminated to stakeholders. The following link provides more information on r2p at NIOSH, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/r2p.
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NIOSH and its partners will be conducting public town hall meetings in Seattle and Houston in January to address regional and sector-specific needs in occupational safety and health research under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). Meetings will address all issues during the morning session and sector-specific issues in the afternoon. Details include:
The public meetings are open to all. Participants will be asked to make five minute presentations describing top issues in workplace safety and health. Everyone is invited to speak, but presenters are asked to register to be added to the agenda. All testimony will be entered into the NORA Docket, and will be used by NORA Research Councils to help shape sector-specific and related cross-sector research agendas for the nation. Please visit the
NORA Town Hall meeting Web page http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/townhall,
to register for either the Seattle or Houston public meetings. If you
cannot attend a meeting, we still need your input. You can submit your
comments online at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora.
The site also contains information about additional town hall meetings
that will be noted in future issues of eNews. |
Division
of Applied Research and Technology (DART) Division of Respiratory Disease Studies (DRDS) The ConAgra efforts leverage NIOSH’s intent that research on this emerging occupational lung disease, also present in the flavoring manufacturing industry, be put into practice to protect employees. NIOSH will partner with ConAgra to bring their experience, once completed, to benefit other companies with similar challenges. In the meantime, the open exchange during the meeting facilitates ongoing mutual interests in how serial spirometry can identify workers with subclinical disease, in appropriate clinical evaluation of workers with falling pulmonary functions, in the effectiveness of exhaust ventilation of flavoring sources, and in the relation between engineering controls and formulation of flavorings used in microwave popcorn. Staff from three NIOSH divisions contributed to the meeting: Division of Respiratory Disease Studies conducted the field investigations of microwave popcorn plants and prepared an Alert on flavorings; HELD staff has ongoing animal and in vitro model work; and Division of Applied Research and Technology staff have considered engineering controls in the industry. Division of Safety Research (DSR) Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies (DSHEFS) Education and Information Division (EID) Health Effects Laboratory Division (HELD) The three researchers that visited the facility were: Dr. Ando Hideo, Department of Environmental Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine; Dr. Hosoya Naoki, Saitama University, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Production Science; and Dr. Setsuo Maeda, Senior Researcher Department of Human Engineering from the National Institute of Industrial Health, Japan. Dr. Maeda is a member of the International Standards Organization subcommittee on vibration, and in collaboration with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), results of this collaboration will have far-reaching impact on setting rational and appropriate standards for exposure to vibration and prevention of disease and injury in the workplace. National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) Spokane Research Laboratory (SRL) |
MIT
to hold January “Particles and Cancer” Conference |
Two
NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) Reports are now available. Evaluation
of Boating-related Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisonings |
International Symposium: Biomedical Aspects of Nano-Toxicology NIOSH will sponsor an international symposium, “Nano-Toxicology: Biomedical Aspects,” on January 29-February 1, 2006, in Miami, FL. Invited speakers from the U.S. and abroad will address key issues for assessing the toxicology of nanomaterials and determining if such materials pose an occupational health risk. Other sponsoring organizations are the University of Pittsburgh, Inter Health Neutraceuticals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc., Alabaster (USA). Additional details and a registration form are available at http://www.pitt.edu/~nanotox/index.htm. IFISH 3 Work, Stress and Health 2006: Making a Difference in the Workplace Call for Abstracts: 13th International Respiratory Protection of Healthcare
Workers and Emergency Responders 2006 NORA Symposium: Research Makes a Difference |
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