Construction Research At Niosh

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts construction-relevant research activities. From 1996 through 2005, the program focused on four research goals: reducing traumatic injuries and fatalities; reducing exposure to health hazards; reducing major risks associated with musculoskeletal disorders; increasing the understanding of construction industry attributes and factors for improving health and safety outcomes. In this book, the National Research Council evaluates the relevance and impact of the NIOSH Construction Research Program in terms of its research priorities and its connection to improvements in the protection of workers in the workplace. It also assesses the program' s identification and targeting of new research areas, to identify emerging research issues, and to provide advice on ways that the program might be strengthened. The book finds that the efforts of the Construction Research Program have made meaningful contributions to improving construction worker safety and health, and provides overreaching and specific recommendations for continuing progress. While NIOSH cannot set and enforce research-based standards on its own, the program can be expected to help reduce construction workplace fatalities, injuries, and illnesses through its research, its research dissemination, and transfer into practice.

The Construction Chart Book presents the most complete data available on all facets of the U.S. construction industry: economic, demographic, employment/income, education/training, and safety and health issues. The book presents this information in a series of 50 topics, each with a description of the subject matter and corresponding charts and graphs. The contents of The Construction Chart Book are relevant to owners, contractors, unions, workers, and other organizations affiliated with the construction industry, such as health providers and workers compensation insurance companies, as well as researchers, economists, trainers, safety and health professionals, and industry observers.

The occurrences of both injury and death that take place on the job are a significant public health problem in the United States, causing a substantial human and economic burden. Traumatic Injury Research at NIOSH is the sixth report in the series Reviews of Research Programs of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The Committee to Evaluate the NIOSH Traumatic Injury Research Program found the program's research during 1996-2005 (the evaluation period for this review) relevant to reducing the burden of traumatic injury in the workplace and to have contributed to improvements in worker health and safety. To continue to reduce injuries and deaths to workers due to trauma, the committee recommended that the TI Research Program continue setting goals within the program's scope and resources; work with other federal agencies that support injury prevention and control research to outline areas of collaboration; embark on a program to increase the visibility of traumatic injury research; develop a strategic plan for evaluating its research-to-practice efforts and for building the capacity to carry out these efforts; and consider research on the safety impacts of changes in the nature of work as well as intervention research targeting organization policies and practices.

Respiratory diseases caused by exposures to dangerous materials in the workplace have tremendous implications for worker health and, by extension, the national economy. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that deaths from work-related respiratory diseases and cancers account for about 70% of all occupational disease deaths. NIOSH conducts research in order to detect and reduce work-related hazardous exposures, injuries, and diseases; its Respiratory Disease Research Program (RDRP) focuses on respiratory diseases. This National Research Council book reviews the RDRP to evaluate the 1) relevance of its work to improvements in occupational safety and health and 2) the impact of research in reducing workplace respiratory illnesses. The assessment reveals that the program has made essential contributions to preventing occupational respiratory disease. The National Research Council has rated the Program a 5 out of 5 for relevance, and a 4 out of 5 for impact. To further increase its effectiveness, the Respiratory Disease Research Program should continue and expand its current efforts, provide resources for occupational disease surveillance, and include exposure assessment scientists in its activities.

From 2005 to 2008, the National Academies conducted an external review of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) research programs. This external review assessed programs' impact on and relevance to preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. This book describes the methodology that RAND researchers developed to help NIOSH programs prepare for the external review.