NIOSH Essay Research Paper The National Institute

NIOSH Essay, Research Paper

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

Asse

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