The Health Hazard Evaluation Program at NIOSH Reviews of Research Programs of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (2009) / Chapter Skim
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4 Impacts of the Health Hazard Evaluation Program: Reductions in Harm and Transfer of Knowledge
4 Impacts of the Health Hazard Evaluation Program: Reductions in Harm and Transfer of Knowledge
Pages 82-120
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From page 82... ...
NIOSH research and policy development programs; and 4. The activities of regulatory agencies, occupational safety and health pro fessionals and organizations, state and local health agencies, and others in the occupational health community, as achieved by transferring program generated hazard and prevention information.
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From page 83... ...
Reductions in exposure at one workplace as a result of HHE Program recommendations can lead NIOSH or other agencies to take action to reduce exposures in similar workplaces nationwide. Information regarding exposure reduction measures can be provided to employees at a site where an HHE was conducted, and then to occupational health professionals, public health practitioners, and state and federal regulators elsewhere through reports, hazard alerts, and other publications.
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From page 84... ...
World Trade Center (3) SOURCE: NIOSH (2007b; HHE search engine [http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/, accessed July 9, 2008]
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From page 85... ...
As described earlier in this report, the HHE Program may conduct a followback survey at the completion of an HHE. One program staff person is responsible for followback survey activities.
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From page 86... ...
Ohio) • HHE Program data were used by OSHA • HETA-78-004-1511 to promulgate a standard in 1979 (U.S.
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From page 87... ...
• Data currently being used by the California OSHA to develop a standard to protect workers. • ConAgra, a major manufacturer, initiated pulmonary surveillance and industrial hygiene reviews to reduce exposure (J.
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From page 88... ...
88 T h e H e a l t h H a z a r d E v a l u a t i o n P r o g r a m a t NIOSH TABLE 4-2 Continued Hazard HHE Reporta Impact Synthetic fibers, flock See Box 3-3; 8 HHEs High-hazard HHEs and NIOSH follow-up were conducted between research are only warnings. OSHA does not 1972 and 2004: have a regulation.
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From page 89... ...
HHEs have been important in defining the effects of MWFs and providing control technologies in hazardous workplaces where no OSHA standards or guidelines have been established to control exposures. Latex allergy Numerous HHEs from NIOSH identified powdered latex gloves HHE Program website as the risk factor for latex allergy.
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From page 90... ...
F inding 1.3: Large portions of the labor force -- particularly those from traditionally underserved populations -- are unaware of HHEs. Hence, they do not request the service and are unaware that a substantial body of HHE work exists to assist them.
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From page 91... ...
These workers typically receive health and safety training and understand their rights. During presentations to the committee, HHE Program staff acknowledged the need to give attention to shifts in the demographics and composition of the labor force.
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From page 92... ...
2. TRANSFER OF PROGRAM-GENERATED INFORMATION TO RELEVANT EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES BEYOND INVESTIGATED WORKPLACES F inding 2.1: The HHE Program disseminates its findings, sometimes widely. Based on discussion with the HHE Program staff, program information is disseminated to employers and employees beyond the investigated workplace through • HHE reports on the Internet accessed through the NIOSH website; • CD-ROMs of HHEs available free to industries, workers, professors, and students; • notification of subscribers by e-mail about various types of free documents; • appropriate OSHA regional offices; • scientific articles in technical journals; • NIOSH documents such as Health Hazard Alerts released when a new body of information requires a special report to be brought to relevant communities (approximately one to five times per year)
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From page 93... ...
HHE Responses International I Management Resolution Thousands Thousands Program- Employed Advancement planned to community M access to of specific of workers of workers generated within of knowledge avoid hazards; informed of P materials on occupational trained trained information industries for future leadership solutions to A prevention of health- using HHE- using HHE incorporated where HHEs potential provided occupational C hazardous related generated generated into are relevant impact during health T conditions problems information curriculum information response hazards FIGURE 4-1 Routes of HHE Program impact beyond investigated workplaces. NOTE: NIEHS = National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
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From page 94... ...
. Annual reports, which might include information on the numbers and categories of HHE requests, industries and hazards involved, types of responses, resources required for re sponses, summaries of key findings from selected HHE reports, data on timeliness goals, and outcomes and impacts, might also prove useful tools for disseminating information about the program and its activities.
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From page 95... ...
noted that HHE Program success stories include HHEs that have resulted in better control technologies to reduce exposures to, for example, lead and silica (Gittleman, 2007)
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From page 96... ...
The need for materials to be translated and for information to be transferred in culturally effective ways was also stressed by this individual. In general, the committee finds evidence that HHE findings are disseminated widely to occupational health professionals, industries represented at technical meetings, certain trade associations, and a portion of the general public health community and worker training programs.
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From page 97... ...
workers and workplaces affected by new and emerging occupational health problems will be alerted quickly. f Supplement program outreach efforts by using community and .
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From page 98... ...
For example, the HHE Program is represented on the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) sector councils and other federal occupational health committees with other agencies, such as OSHA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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From page 99... ...
The committee has already noted the substantial evidence that supports the HHE Program's centrality in policy-relevant emerging hazard areas such as emergency response, and with hazards associated with diacetyl, MWFs, and latex gloves. During the course of this evaluation, the HHE Program became actively involved in a study of inflammatory neuropathy among swine slaughterhouse workers in Minnesota (MMWR, 2008)
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From page 100... ...
These efforts also contributed to the placement of this chemical on the EPA pesticide registry. The body of MWF HHE reports had a significant input to the NIOSH Cri teria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Metalworking Fluids (NIOSH, 1998b)
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From page 101... ...
The program has made contributions to NIOSH policy development through interactions with the NIOSH Authoritative Recommendations (AR) Program.
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From page 102... ...
. Research-Related Impact In this section, the committee focuses on two aspects of research impact: those related to the development of laboratory or field-related experimental research programs at NIOSH and elsewhere, and those related to the impact on training the occupational health labor force.
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From page 103... ...
Hearing loss HHE investigators supported NIOSH guidance document (http://www.cdc.gov/ niosh/docs/96-110/pdfs/96-110.pdf) Body art HHE data supported NIOSH guidance (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/bbp/ bodyart/)
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From page 104... ...
One of the strengths of the HHE Program is its flexibility and responsiveness to a variety of occupational health problems. It maintains this strength with a very small budget and limited personnel, which requires the effective use of scientific
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From page 105... ...
. F inding 3.5: The HHE Program has a significant impact on the training, development, and placement of program alumni inside and outside the HHE Program in the occupational health community.
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From page 106... ...
The occupational health community would benefit from continued HHE Program engagement in strategic recruitment of trainees, perhaps by partner ing more extensively with ERCs and universities. Committee members conclude, based on their own experiences, that universities could and should be doing more to recruit the occupational health labor force of the future, and that the HHE Program could play a substantial role in the training and placement of that labor force.
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From page 107... ...
The committee then turns to an evaluation of the specific knowledge transfer and exchange mechanisms used by the HHE Program to reach target audiences in the occupational health community. The occupational health community is heterogeneous and includes scientists, occupational public health professionals, the public health labor force as a whole, companies, managers, members of the labor force, and institutions that represent individuals and groups.
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From page 108... ...
have been addressed by the program staff and are now represented in its current portfolio of knowledge transfer and exchange activities. Examples of Transfer to the Occupational Health Community Transfer Material Type: Numbered HHE reports F inding 4.1: Numbered HHE reports are generally of high quality, of direct immediate benefit to investigated sites, and of benefit to the larger occupational health community.
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From page 109... ...
The HHE Program provided the committee with 58 pages of titles of various papers disseminating program results dated from the early 1990s to the present. The titles include numbered HHE reports, journal articles, book chapters, NIOSH numbered documents, and other items appearing in trade journals.
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From page 110... ...
The committee reviewed an extensive 10-year record of regular presenta tions at major academic conferences, many of which were later published in the peer-reviewed literature. In addition to their substantial activities in the national occupational health community, HHE Program scientists have presented research at international conferences in Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Scotland, Sweden, South Africa, and South Korea.
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From page 111... ...
Transfer Material Type: Trade Presentations F inding 4.5: There is evidence that the HHE Program publishes in trade journals and makes presentations to trade association meetings, but more can be done to reach a wider audience and a greater diversity of employer and industry types. The committee reviewed a list of many presentations at trade conferences (NIOSH, 2007b)
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From page 112... ...
Furthermore, the social dynamic at trade association meetings may make it difficult for business owners to have open dialogue about problems experienced with their production processes. Transfer Activity Type: Interagency Cooperation F inding 4.6: The HHE Program participates in a variety of intergov ernmental activities that promote knowledge about occupational health matters.
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From page 113... ...
Transfer Material: Compendia of Known Findings F inding 4.7: The HHE Program has made progress in developing com pendia of findings and recommendations about well-understood oc cupational health risks. The HHE Program has developed four compendia of findings about occupational health risks associated with isocyanates, noise, tuberculosis, and lead (NIOSH, 2004e, 1998c, 2001b, and 2001a, respectively)
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From page 114... ...
This section focuses on the ability of the HHE Program to disseminate findings to occupational health stakeholders beyond the profes sional labor force. The primary dissemination mechanism for HHE reports and other published materials is by e-mail and the Internet.
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From page 115... ...
One respondent suggested that linkage between the HHE Program and local health departments, state occupational safety agencies, and industry associations could be improved, and an invited speaker to a committee meeting from OSHA Region 1 suggested that HHE Program success stories could be posted on the OSHA website (Kent, 2007)
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From page 116... ...
As described in Chapters 2 and 3, HHE Program staff members are uniquely qualified to respond to emergencies and are often asked to assume leadership roles during emergency response. An important impact of the HHE Program, especially dur ing emergency response, has been the subjective and effective validation of worker experiences and concerns.
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From page 117... ...
Additionally, HHE investigators authored or coauthored 17 peer-reviewed publications on the topic of anthrax; made 38 technical presentations; published 1 numbered HHE report and 3 web-based guidance documents; and testified to a congressional subcommittee regarding microbiological sampling methods for anthrax (NIOSH, 2007b)
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From page 118... ...
HHE investigators coordinated and prioritized donations to speed the selection and manufacturing of personal protective and other equipment (NIOSH, 2007b)
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From page 119... ...
There is also a concern that limited funding and obligations for emergency responses might dilute the effectiveness of the program and cause it to veer from more routine industrial hygiene reviews. The transfer of information to workplaces other than those investigated and to other agencies in the occupational health community has been extensive; however, the transfer is incomplete in that many people interviewed by the committee were unaware of the HHE Program.
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From page 120... ...
Training programs through the HHE Program are thought to offer an excellent opportunity for increasing expertise in occupational health, and such programs, as well as the use of alumni from these programs in emergen cies, should be expanded. Based on the scoring system developed by the Framework Committee (see Chapter 1, Box 1-1)
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