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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2 Description of the Health Hazard Evaluation Program
2 Description of the Health Hazard Evaluation Program
Pages 20-41
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, activities (responses to HHE requests) , outputs (such as HHE reports and NIOSH published documents)
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HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the federal agency charged with protecting worker safety and health by setting and enforcing workplace standards.
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22 Bitmapped 2-1 Broadside FIGURE 2-1 Logic model of the HHE Program.
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. Congress ultimately recognized that the nation needed a mechanism to investigate health hazards in the workplace, regardless of compliance with specific standards.
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Who may submit requests for investigations is defined by law: the request must be from an employer; a union; an employee representing at least two other employ ees; a single employee if the work area of concern has three or fewer employees; 29 CFR 1960, Basic Program Elements for Federal Employees Occupational Safety and Health Programs and Related Matters. Section 1960.35 of these regulations describes the procedures for requesting HHEs in federal agency workplaces.
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Prevent occupational illnesses through reduced exposure to workplace hazards; 2. Promote occupational safety and health research on emerging issues; and
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. The strategic goals and activities of the HHE Program are influenced by a variety of factors, including program and agency resources, legislative mandates, HHE requests, and stakeholder needs.
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HETAB is the administrative home of the HHE Program and bears the costs for program administration. HETAB logs and tracks all HHE requests, maintains a central file of HHE requests and reports, and carries out routine communication functions, such as notifying OSHA and state and local health departments of HHE requests.
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28 TABLE 2-1 Budget for the HHE Program by Branch and Class: Fiscal Years 2000-2007 Class (thousands of dollars) Mobile Year Salaries Benefits Travel Mail Communications Printing Contracts Supplies Equipment Fellows Total Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch 2000 3,431 1,047 316 11 18 65 55 87 44 99 5,173 2001 3,529 1,115 314 6 19 26 107 86 130 5,332 2002 3,340 1,203 335 23 34 10 529 145 774 174 6,567 2003 3,866 1,381 376 34 37 6 234 108 124 6,166 2004 3,583 1,275 360 27 14 6 304 114 57 5,740 2005 3,360 1,124 265 20 7 374 129 10 5,289 2006 3,253 1,084 203 18 4 2 199 85 199 5,047 2007 3,502 1,176 198 25 2 1 366 74 105 5,449 Field Studies Branch 2000 935 232 128 8 0 4 430 34 147 40 1,959 2001 1,324 320 218 1 9 1 359 36 111 61 2,441 2002 1,402 335 256 1 14 0 476 68 49 54 2,655 2003 1,372 350 180 0 12 1 401 31 100 65 2,512 2004 1,382 414 160 5 2 5 446 32 64 0 2,509 2005 1,393 496 158 0 3 3 365 65 5 0 2,489 2006 1,188 395 92 13 3 0 284 59 21 48 2,101 2007 1,195 400 109 0 5 1 210 85 7 21 2,033 SOURCE: NIOSH (2007g)
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Communication with HHE Program staff indicates program staff are distributed by discipline or role within HETAB and FSB in the disciplines needed to conduct HHEs, especially given the collaborative efforts within NIOSH (NIOSH, 2007g)
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A trailer designed as a staging facility for field investigations during emergency response and large-scale nonemergency field in vestigations is maintained at the program's Cincinnati facilities. A medical trailer in Morgantown is equipped to assess pulmonary effects of workplace exposures.
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. Recommendations were made related to • problems identifying the agenda of the requestor, including labor management difficulties and work organization issues; • personnel training needs, especially communication; • need to better prioritize HHE requests; the • documentation of HHE impacts, including effectiveness of recommendations; • need to identify emerging hazards, less routine work, and more useful the summaries of investigations in areas of more extensive experience; and • maximizing the ability to accomplish the preceding recommendations within the constraints of limited resources.
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. Recommendations include • restating HETAB and DRDS missions and increasing the amount of priori tization of HHE requests (triage)
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HHE Requests As already discussed, the HHE Program receives requests for assistance in addressing workplace health issues from stakeholders and applies triage criteria to determine whether a field investigation is warranted. The annual number of HHE requests has remained relatively flat for the past 10 years, with an average of approximately 370 requests each year (NIOSH, 2007b:35)
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Because most HHE requests are related to multiple hazards or hazard classes, the HHE Program developed the following strategy for the tabulation of hazard class of requests: • IEQ -- any request that included an IEQ issue, regardless of other issues also present • Physical -- if not IEQ, and if keywords were present indicating ergonomic, musculoskeletal, radiation, or noise issues • Biological -- if not assigned to IEQ or Physical, and keywords were present relating to tuberculo sis, histoplasmosis, biosolids, or brucellosis issues • All Other -- any other request not assigned to the classes above 14 Box 2-3 represents the HHE categorization strategy per the 1994 procedures manual, which was superseded by a new procedures manual produced in 2006. The 1994 criteria were used over most of the time period being evaluated.
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dPercentage of HHE requests resulting in a field investigation. eNumber of HHE requests.
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if needed Yes informational requestor request letter sent to employer No HHE findings warrant a numbered No final report Contact employer; Requestor Yes informational Yes wants employer letter sent to contacted employer; copy If requestor's to requestor Letter report sent concerns answered to employer No by telephone, closeout memo to file Informational letter Numbered final sent to requestor report issued FIGURE 2-4 Flow diagram representing the HHE Program triage process for prioritizing HHE re Figure 2-4.eps quests and allocating resources for response. a Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch (of NIOSH)
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Additional factors attributed to the changing response pattern include the decreased size of HHE Program staff, decreased discretionary funding, increased complexity of field investigations, and increased demands for staff involvement in activities other than traditional HHEs. These activities include emergency response and preparedness, participation on agency and expert committees, document development and review, international technical assistance, and mentoring and training of non-NIOSH occupational health and safety professionals (NIOSH, 2007b)
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In addi tion, new industries, processes, or exposures not previously evaluated by the HHE Program, NIOSH in general, or other occupational safety and health professionals should be placed into Category III or IV. On the other hand, requests for compliance or routine monitoring would be placed into Category II with referral suggestions (e.g.
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Criteria for Prioritizing HHE Requests in Category III 1. Does the request relate to a NIOSH special initiative or research project?
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Fifteen HHE Program staff, along with other NIOSH staff, responded to the immediate protection needs of rescue and recovery workers in New York City. Such workers included firefighters, law enforcement personnel, emergency medical services, construction and demolition trades, health and safety personnel, volunteer workers, and local, state, and federal agency workers.
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Technical assistance and letter reports can be very similar in scope to numbered HHE reports or may be much more focused and answer specific questions or provide referrals as necessary. Between 1996 and 2006, the HHE Program produced 495 numbered HHE reports, 503 letter reports for other field investigations, and 1,999 technical assistance or consultation letter reports (NIOSH, 2007b)
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