[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 214 (Monday, November 6, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56060-56061]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27400]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Meeting
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the
following meeting:
Name: Setting a National Occupational Research Agenda.
Time and Date: 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m., November 30, 1995.
Place: Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Room 800, 200 Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201.
Status: Open to the public, limited only by the space available.
The room accommodates approximately 100 people.
Purpose: NIOSH seeks input into the development of a national
agenda for occupational safety and health research for the next
decade. The agenda will assist NIOSH and other organizations and
individual scientists in the public and private sectors to
coordinate research activities and target the highest scientific
priorities for preventing work injuries and illnesses in the United
States.
The tentative agenda of the meeting includes: (1) An initial
discussion list of possible items for the national research agenda;
(2) proposed criteria for establishing research priorities; and, (3)
the proposed public process for developing the research agenda. The
remainder of the meeting will provide interested parties with the
opportunity to comment and make recommendations on research
priorities, criteria, and the process. Research priorities for
consideration include health effects, hazardous exposures, work
environments, industries, occupations, and populations associated
with significant occupational disease, injury, disability,
fatalities, or topics of growing importance in the future.
Persons interested in presenting oral comments during the
meeting will be limited to five minutes to allow a maximum number of
presentations. Presenters are encouraged to provide written comments
to accompany their oral presentations. Participants as well as
persons who cannot attend are encouraged to send written comments as
indicated below.
Matters to be Discussed: As the lead federal health agency for
research into the causes and prevention of work injuries and
diseases, NIOSH has a responsibility to continually assess the state
of existing knowledge and define future research needs and
priorities. The development of a national research agenda will
assist NIOSH and the occupational safety and health research
community in establishing priorities and targeting some of the
scientific needs of the next decade that offer the greatest
potential for advancing the safety and health of workers.
Establishing these priorities is especially important in light of
increasing fiscal constraints on occupational safety and health
research in both the public and private sectors. The agenda is
intended to serve decision-makers and scientists working throughout
the field, employed in government, corporate, labor, university, and
private research programs.
NIOSH has developed a discussion list of possible items for the
national research agenda. A small group of scientists reviewed a
wide array of information ranging from the scope of occupational
safety and health problems to future employment projections. The
results of a scientific agenda-setting process recently completed in
the United Kingdom were also considered. In addition, the group
agreed on the scope of agenda items it would propose. For example,
it decided that a category such as ``occupational lung diseases''
would be too inclusive to serve as a research priority, that items
of this breadth would result in an agenda encompassing the field
rather than providing decision-makers and scientists with focussed
direction to meet some of the greatest needs and opportunities for
prevention. The group ultimately listed approximately 50 items:
[[Page 56061]]
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Health response Exposure
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Traumatic Injury Chemical Mixtures (Including Hazardous Waste).
Eye Injury Pesticides.
Electrocutions Solvents.
Falls Oils and related derivatives (e.g., Cutting Fluids, Diesel).
Neck, Shoulder and Other Upper Extremity Disorders Indoor Environment.
Low Back Disorders Thermal stresses.
Fertility and Pregnancy Outcomes Mineral and Synthetic Fibers.
Occupational Asthma Metals and Related Compounds.
Pneumoconioses Hormonally Active Substances.
Inhalation Injury Violence/Assaults.
Hypersensitivity lung disease Motor Vehicles.
Occupational Chronic Diseases (Selected) Heavy Machinery.
Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease Hand Tools.
Chronic Renal Disease Mechanical Stressors.
Ischemic Heart Disease Noise.
Neurodegenerative Disease (Cognitive and Movement Disorders) Electric and Magnetic Fields.
Occupational Infectious Diseases Behavioral Risk Factors.
Depression and Anxiety
Immune Dysfunction
Neuroimmune Function
Hearing Loss
Contact Dermatitis
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Sector--work environment--workforce Research process
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Construction Intervention and Prevention.
Agriculture Effectiveness Research.
Small Businesses Engineering and Technologic Solutions.
Work Organization (Changing Economy and Workforce) Exposure Assessment Methods Development.
Emerging Technologies Hazard Surveillance.
Vulnerable Populations Disease Surveillance.
Service Workers Injury Surveillance.
Risk Assessment Methodology.
Identification of Molecular Correlates of Cancer and other Chronic
Diseases.
Occupational Health Services Research (e.g., Manpower Needs; Clinical
Outcomes Research).
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From this list and additional items that are recommended, NIOSH
anticipates producing a final agenda of 15-25 of the highest
scientific priorities for advancing safety and health. The following
criteria were used in developing this initial discussion list and
are proposed for the development of the research agenda:
(1) the seriousness of the hazard in terms of death, injury,
disease, disability, and economic impact;
(2) the number of workers exposed or the magnitude of the risk;
(3) the potential for risk reduction;
(4) the expected trend in the importance of the subject; and,
(5) the need for research (the sufficiency of existing research)
for improving worker protection.
NIOSH will be seeking input over the next five months to assure
that the final agenda includes input from the broadest base of
occupational safety and health expertise. The process will include
the following elements:
(1) Corporate and worker liaison committees and a broader-based
stakeholders outreach committee will assist NIOSH in obtaining
involvement and input from employers, employees, health officials,
health professionals, scientists, and public health, advocacy,
scientific, industry and labor organizations;
(2) The November 30 public meeting, described in this notice, to
obtain early input on the research priorities, criteria for
selection of priorities, and the process for developing the agenda;
(3) Three work groups comprising researchers, health
professionals, and representatives of stakeholder organizations will
meet in public sessions in December and January to provide
individual input and recommendations based on the communities they
represent; time will be reserved to allow observers the opportunity
to comment;
(4) Regional public meetings will be held in increase the
opportunities for input from employers, employees, scientists, and
other public stakeholders across the United States;
(5) A final public meeting in March 1996 to present a
preliminary research agenda and provide the opportunity for public
review and comment; and
(6) Public input throughout the process; the public is
encouraged to provide oral comments at the public meetings and
written comments through March 6, 1996.
(7) The final agenda will be presented at a scientific symposium
commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act on April 29, 1996.
NIOSH encourages the public to provide recommendations on
research priorities, criteria for determining priorities, and the
process of developing the research agenda as early in the process as
possible. To register to attend, to register to speak, or to receive
additional information on the November 30 meeting, please contact
Ms. Sandy Lange as indicated below. On-site registration will be
available; however, to assist in planning for the meeting, advance
registration is requested.
Addresses: Comments should be mailed to Ms. Diane Manning,
NIOSH, CDC, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, NIOSH, CDC, M/S C34, 4676
Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226.
Contact Person for Additional Information: Ms. Sandy Lange,
NIOSH, CDC, 200 Independence Avenue, Room 317B, Washington, DC
20201, telephone 202/401-0721.
Dated: October 31, 1995.
John C. Burckhardt,
Acting Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 95-27400 Filed 11-3-95; 8:45 am]
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