NIOSH
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and
the
Occupational Safety an Health Administration (OSHA) were established
by the
Occupational Safety and Health Act passed by congress in 1970.
NIOSH is a part
of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and is the only
federally funded and
controlled division responsible for conducting research
and making
recommendations for the prevention of work related illnesses and
injuries. It is
important to understand the OSHA and NIOSH are two separate
agencies. OSHA is
housed under the Department of Labor and is responsible for
the development and
enforcement of workplace health and safety regulations.
NIOSH on the other hand
is in the Department of Health and Human Services and
is a research agency.
NIOSH was created when the US Secretary of Labor
was directed by congress
through section 2B (5,6) of the OSH Act to "provide
for research in the field
of occupational safety and health, including the
psychological involved, and by
developing innovative methods, techniques, and
approaches for dealing with
occupational safety and health problems: by
exploring ways to discover latent
diseases, establishing causal connections
between diseases and work and
environmental conditions, and conducting other
research relating to health
problems, in recognition of the fact that
occupational health standards present
problems often different from those
involved in occupational safety". During
its 25 year history NIOSH has had
its function revised two times, once in 1977
by amendment to the Coal Mine
Health and Safety Act and in 1995 when the U.S.
Bureau of Mine Health and
Safety Research was consolidated and placed in NIOSH.
These changes
allowed NIOSH to play the same role in the mining industry that
they played
in all others. The duties and responsibilities of NIOSH are numerous
but
include: · Investigating potentially hazardous working conditions as
reported
by employees or employers. · Evaluate the hazards of new technologies
and
work practices. · Researching, Creating and Evaluating methods for
preventing
disease, illness or injury in the workplace. · Providing education
and
training to individuals preparing for or actively involved in the field
of
occupational safety and health. · Recommend occupational safety and
health
standards to OSHA. Many of the efforts of NIOSH are targeted at
anticipating
workplace crisis and making sure that they do not come to pass.
An example of
one of these efforts is the many mine disaster that have been
prevented as a
result of the pillar system developed by NIOSH for longwall
mining. Another
example is the many health emergencies that have been avoided
as a result of the
NIOSH information hotline. As a federal agency NIOSH
has given itself both a
vision and a mission statement. It’s vision is
"Delivering on the Nations
promise: safety and health at work for all people
through research and
prevention". The mission of NIOSH is to "provide
national and world
leadership to prevent work-related illness, injury and
death by gathering
information, conducting scientific studies and translating
the knowledge gained
into products and services". NIOSH has given itself four
strategic goals for
the next decade. The first goal is to "conduct a targeted
program of research
to reduce morbidity, injuries and mortality among workers
in high priority areas
and high-risk sectors". In order to accomplish goal
number one NIOSH will
follow NORA or the National Occupational Research
Agenda. NORA breaks NIOSH
research down into 3 distinct areas, disease and
injury, work
environment/workforce and research tools and approaches. Each of
the three areas
has specific areas of research that will be targeted. The
following is a brief
list of the targeted research areas: Disease and Injury
Allergic and Irritant
Dermatitis Hearing Loss Low Back Disorders
Cumulative Trauma Disorders Work
Environment Emerging Technologies And
Workforce Indoor Environment Special
Populations at Risk Research Tools
and Cancer Research Methods Approaches
Control Technology and PPE
Exposure Assessment Methods Risk Assessment Methods
It is understood that
while there are many other area’s of research that may
still have importance,
under NORA these will be some of the areas receiving the
majority of research
attention at this time. The second goal is to "develop a
system of
surveillance of major occupational illnesses, injuries, exposures and
health
hazards". Congress decided in 1986 that the ability to identify,
quantify and
report work-related injury and disease is vital to prevention. To
make
optimal use of public resources to conduct this surveillance NIOSH
has
created partnerships at Federal, State and Local levels throughout the
country.
An example of this type of surveillance is the FACE program or
Fatality
Assessment and Control Evaluation. In this program partnerships
formed with
state Health Departments allow NIOSH to investigate worksites
where fatalities
have occurred. NIOSH conducted 139 such investigations in
1998. Following the
investigations NIOSH gives prevention recommendations to
the employers and
workers. Other partnerships have been formed with the
Consumer Product Safety
Commission to study non-fatal occupational
injuries and with the EPA to study
pesticide related poisonings. The third
goal is to "increase occupational
disease and injury prevention activities
through workplace evaluations,
interventions and recommendations". NIOSH has
5 separate programs aimed at
achieving goal number three. The first being
Health Hazard Evaluations. These
are conducted at the worksite, based on the
request of workers, employers or
government agencies. Specific
recommendations will be made following an HHE to
prevent hazards at the
worksite evaluated. The second program is Intervention
Effectiveness
Research. These are conducted to evaluate how effective current
prevention
methods are at reducing injuries, when there are known hazards. The
third is
Control Technology Assistance. In this program NIOSH work with industry
to
create practical solutions to hazards that will have a broad impact
on
worksites. The fourth is Recommendations. NIOSH disseminates its
research
information to the public to have a greater impact on hazards that
may affect
people at home as well as work. The fifth and final is Respirator
Certification.
This program conducts site audits, investigates respirator
problems in the
field, studies proposed modifications, and conducts research
to improve
respirator use and performance. The fourth and final goal is to
provide workers,
employers, the public and the occupational safety and health
community with
information, training and capacity to prevent occupational
diseases and
injuries. NIOSH is also responsible for many different types of
publications,
such as Criteria Documents, Current Intelligence , Bulletins,
NIOSH Alerts,
Updates, Hazard Controls, Hazard Identifications, Reports
of Investigations and
Informal Circulars. Criteria Documents provide the
basis for occupational safety
and health standards. Each document generally
contains a review of scientific
and technical information on a particular
hazard, existence of safety and health
risks regarding the hazard and a
review of the control methods. These documents
will make recommendations for
minimizing safety and health risks. These
recommendations may include medical
monitoring, exposure assessment, worker
training, control technology,
personal protective equipment and record keeping.
An example is a 1998
document relating to the criteria for occupational noise
exposure. In the
document NIOSH reaffirms the recommended exposure level for
occupational
noise. The level has been at 85 Db since 1972. For occupations that
exceed
the REL the document recommends a hearing loss prevention program
that
includes all of the following, exposure assessment, engineering
and
administrative controls, proper use of hearing protection,
audiometric
evaluation and education. Current Intelligence Bulletins review,
evaluate and
disseminate new information about occupational hazards . An
example of such a
document is a 1997 bulletin on the commercial fishing
industry fatalities in
Alaska. The document uses great detail to describe
the difference between
commercial fishing in Alaska and other areas. Much of
the harvesting is done
using different machinery and weather conditions than
the rest of the industry.
NIOSH recommends that there be continued
training with regards to the Commercial
Fishing Industry Vessel Safety
Act, aimed at reducting injuries and fatalities
even further. NIOSH Alerts
briefly present new information about occupational
illnesses, injuries and
deaths. They generally ask for immediate action on the
part of the employer,
employee and safety and health professionals to reduce the
risks and
implement controls with regards to the hazard addressed by the alert.
An
example is an Alert from December of 1999 entitled "Preventing Injuries
and
Deaths of Workers Who Operate or Work Near Forklifts". In the report,
NIOSH
states that over 1021 deaths have occurred as a result of forklifts in
the past
10 years. Of that, 22% occurred as a result of a forklift
overturning. NIOSH
give the current OSHA regulations, and manufacturer
recommendations for safe
operation. It then give specific case data to drvie
the point home to the
reader. After they have the readers attention NIOSH
give its recommendations to
increase safety, which include · Use seat belts
if they are available · Report
any damage problems noticed or occurring
during your shift. · Do not jump from
an overturning forklift. · Use extreme
caution on grades and ramps. Additional
recommendations are available but are
too numerous to mention for the purpose of
this example. Updates are brief
publications that provide information on NIOSH
findings and recommend
preventative.