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Pages 1-20

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From page 1...
... Occupational hearing loss may impede communication, contribute to safety hazards in the workplace, and adversely affect other aspects of workers' lives. In conjunction with planned reviews of up to 15 NIOSH research programs, the Institute of Medicine convened a committee of experts to review the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program to evaluate the relevance of its work to improvements in occupational safety and health and the impact of NIOSH research in reducing workplace illnesses and injuries.
From page 2...
... For this reason the committee assigned a score of 3 for relevance, indicating that often the research focuses on lesser priorities and is loosely or only indi rectly connected to workplace protection. To enhance the relevance and impact of its work and fulfill its stated mission of providing national and world leadership to reduce the prevalence of occupational hearing loss through a focused program of research and pre vention, the committee recommends that the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program foster effective leadership in program planning and implementa tion; further implement program evaluation efforts; gain access to additional intramural and extramural expertise, especially in epidemiology and noise control engineering; and initiate and sustain efforts to obtain surveillance data for occupational hearing loss and workplace noise exposure.
From page 3...
... The committee recommends that the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program take steps that include fostering effective leadership in program planning and implementation; further implementing program evaluation efforts; gaining access to additional intramural and extramural expertise, especially in epidemiology and noise control engineering; and initiating and sustaining efforts to obtain surveillance data for occupational hearing loss and workplace noise exposure. STUDY PROCESS The committee's review focused on the work of the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program primarily during the period 1996 through 2005.1 The review 1 The Hearing Loss Research Program is one of the first two research programs to be reviewed for NIOSH by National Academies committees.
From page 4...
... Data from surveillance programs or longitudinal studies of selected populations are needed to identify industrial sectors or workforce populations with the highest levels of occupational hearing loss or noise exposure and to identify improvements in these end outcomes. FACTORS WITH BROAD EFFECTS ON THE HEARING LOSS RESEARCH PROGRAM Several factors beyond the control of the Hearing Loss Research Program may have prevented it from working in an optimal way to achieve impact and rel evance.
From page 5...
... Develop Engineering Controls to Reduce Noise Exposures 4. Improve Understanding of Occupational Hearing Loss Through Sur veillance and Investigation of Risk Factors The Hearing Loss Research Program used these four goals to organize the primary evidence package provided to the committee.
From page 6...
... Although the committee considered the emphasis on mining, reflecting congressional direction, to be disproportionate to the distribution of workers exposed to noise hazards in other industrial sectors, this allocation is outside the control of the Hearing Loss Research Program. How ever, drawing on additional noise control engineering expertise, the program could and should take more aggressive steps both to apply and transfer technologies developed for the mining industry to other industry sectors and to develop noise control technology for other sectors.
From page 7...
... Overall, the committee found the activities of the Hearing Loss Research Program to include strong, high-priority work, as well as projects that the committee viewed to be of lesser priority. The committee was concerned that the program was not giving sufficient emphasis and priority to surveillance for occupational hearing loss and noise exposure, a fundamental gap in the field, or devoting enough breadth and expertise to its efforts in noise control engineering.
From page 8...
... workers during the past decade, as well as the lack of large, longitudinal intervention studies, meant that the committee was unable to consider evidence that the program has contributed to changes in end outcomes related to occupational hearing loss. Intermediate Outcomes Given the lack of data on changes in the end outcomes of occupational hearing loss and noise exposure, the committee based its assessment of the impact of the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program primarily on the evidence that its re search products have been put to use beyond NIOSH in ways that have the poten tial to influence occupational hearing loss in the workplace.
From page 9...
... Participation by Hearing Loss Research Program staff not only in intramural research but also in collaborations with other agencies and with academic scientists, hearing protector manufacturers, employers, and workers probably adds to the impact of the program in ways that are difficult to document. The Hearing Loss Research Program is engaged in a narrow set of activities on engineering noise controls (Research Goal 3)
From page 10...
... On the basis of its review, the committee assigned the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program a score of 4 for impact, notwithstanding significant shortcom ings in some aspects of the program. The five-point scale used for the rating of impact is shown in Box S-2.
From page 11...
... IDENTIFYING EMERGING ISSUES AND RESEARCH AREAS In addition to evaluating the relevance and impact of the work of the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program to health and safety in the workplace, the committee is charged with assessing the program's targeting of new research areas and identification of emerging issues in occupational safety and health most relevant to future improvements in workplace protection. The Hearing Loss Research Program's Identification of Emerging Issues and Research Areas in Occupational Hearing Loss The NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program identified 12 emerging research issues distributed across its four current research goals.
From page 12...
... RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT As the only federal research program focused specifically on the challenge of preventing occupational hearing loss, the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program should be an undisputed leader and source of expertise in the fields of occupa tional hearing loss research, including hearing loss prevention programs, hearing protection, noise control engineering for occupational hearing loss prevention, and occupational hearing loss surveillance and risk factors. The committee identi fied several potential opportunities to improve the relevance of the program's work and strengthen its impact on reducing occupational hearing loss.
From page 13...
... The program as a whole and each of the four research program areas require leadership specifically dedicated to championing a better Hearing Loss Research Program. In addition to having excellent management skills, leaders should be well-regarded experts in hearing loss prevention, noise control engineering, or surveillance methods, with experience in implementing hearing loss prevention or noise control engineering practices in the field.
From page 14...
... For the program to hold the position of national leadership, it must draw upon outstanding members of the communities responsible for the prevention of occupational hearing loss both within and outside the program. As the Hearing Loss Research Program garners additional internal expertise, it should also broaden and strengthen its ties to sources of external scientific, hearing loss prevention, and noise control engineering expertise, such as other federal agencies, industry, and the military.
From page 15...
... The Hearing Loss Research Program should make the rationale for its research prioritization more explicit, using analyses of surveil lance data to the extent possible as well as the concerns and interests of stakeholders from a variety of industrial sectors to guide allocations of resources and effort.
From page 16...
... Surveillance Activities The Hearing Loss Research Program identified the lack of surveillance data for workers' noise exposures and the incidence and severity of occupational hearing
From page 17...
... Although the Hearing Loss Research Program has participated in several different efforts to address the lack of surveillance data, the program's current approaches are piecemeal and require expansion of their conceptual framework and measurement methods. To maintain an appropriate scientific leadership role in the field of occupational hearing loss prevention, the Hearing Loss Research Program needs to increase its emphasis on and expertise in surveillance.
From page 18...
... The Hearing Loss Research Program should increase efforts to develop noise control approaches applicable in industrial sectors out side mining where workers are also at risk from hazardous noise. Where possible, "dual-use" applications from work done in mining could help bring noise reduction benefit to both miners and workers from other industrial sectors.
From page 19...
... For the Hearing Loss Research Program to maximize the benefit of extramural research, it is important for intramural and extramural researchers to each be aware of the work that the others are doing relevant to occupational hearing loss or noise control. Where appropriate, intramural research ers should be building upon extramural work within the Hearing Loss Research Program.
From page 20...
... Develop noise control engineering approaches for non-mining sectors. Increase the visibility of noise control engineering as a component of the Hearing Loss Research Program.


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