Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Research at NIOSH Reviews of Research Programs of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (2008) / Chapter Skim
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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. Relevance was evaluated in terms of the priority of work carried out and its connection to improvements in workplace protection.
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To enhance the relevance and impact of its work and fulfill its stated mis sion of providing national and world leadership to reduce workplace hazards through a focused program of research and prevention, the AFF Program should foster effective leadership to create a cohesive program, establish stra tegic goals, implement a comprehensive surveillance system that identifies and tracks worker populations at risk, engage stakeholders for input on research priorities, develop new approaches for technology and information dissemina tion, and incorporate current national developments in its targeting of new and emerging research areas. STUDY PROCESS The committee was charged with reviewing the AFF Program, evaluating the relevance of its work to improvements in occupational safety and health, and evalu ating its impact on reducing workplace illnesses and injuries.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF AN IDEAL AFF RESEARCH PROGRAM As its first step in evaluating the NIOSH AFF Program, the committee was directed by the Framework Document to independently identify the major program challenges for an occupational safety and health research program in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. When considering the ideal research program, the committee focused its efforts on identifying the following program components that would comprehensively and effectively address the safety and health issues that face workers in agriculture, forestry, and fishing: • Identify and engage stakeholders, • Identify populations at risk, • Conduct surveillance, • Conduct health effects research, • Conduct intervention research, • Conduct health services research and training, • Conduct research on knowledge diffusion and technology transfer, • Inform public policy and provide regulatory assistance, • Conduct program evaluation initiatives.
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That is the case with the Alaska commercial fishing program, which is an exemplary research program with concentrated research topics, clear goals, and adequate resources. Work on agricultural risks to respiratory health conducted by AFF Program staff in collaboration with other researchers has included cutting-edge research that has moved the field forward.
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4 = Research program has made a moderate contribution on the basis of end outcomes or well-accepted intermediate outcomes; research program generated important new knowledge and is engaged in transfer activities, but well-accepted intermediate out comes or end outcomes have not been documented. 3 = Research program activities or outputs are going on and are likely to produce improve ments in worker health and safety (with explanation of why not rated higher)
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Forestry work remains one of the deadliest occupations in the United States, but the AFF Program has yet to demonstrate substantial effort in this area outside of Alaska and the Southeastern United States. The committee is concerned that the AFF Program is not in tune with modern agricultural and forestry practices, lacks the ability to review efforts and know when to move on to other emerging issues, and consequently NIOSH does not have an accurate grasp of issues most pressing to agriculture and forestry workers.
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Those are important matters that affect the kinds of research conducted; leaving them unaddressed will severely hinder the AFF Program's ability to conduct research relevant to worker safety and health. The AFF Program is engaged in transfer activities, but it has not been entirely successful in developing integrated approaches to disseminating research findings so as to yield additional reductions in injuries and illnesses in the AFF sectors.
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NIOSH has a unique role as the only federal agency capable of convening all players dedicated to preventing workplace injury and disease, and it has deployed itself credibly on this task and funded other partners to function in consensus building roles. NIOSH-sponsored symposia and workshops have had a great impact on the work of many occupational safety and health professionals and prob ably on the lives of AFF workers, but it is difficult to measure the direct impact of these indispensable capacity-building activities on worker safety and health.
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Worker populations have not been adequately defined or tracked; therefore injuries and illnesses and changes in these populations have not been documented. The AFF Program's unfamiliarity with standard sources of data on hired farmworker employment, including the long-established USDA quarterly Farm Labor, is an indication of its inability to obtain accurate denominator data for its separate populations.
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IDENTIFYING EMERGING ISSUES AND RESEARCH AREAS The committee was charged with assessing the program's targeting of new research in occupational safety and health most relevant to future improvements in workplace protection. It was also asked to identify emerging issues important
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Because the AFF Program on the whole has struggled to conduct surveillance to understand the current needs of its worker populations, it is unable to forecast future needs. In light of the fact that the program lacks an established procedure for assessing emerging issues in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, the committee furthermore concludes that the AFF Program has fallen behind in understanding current practices and how these practices can create new hazards for workers.
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1.b: The AFF Program should develop a comprehensive program evaluation mechanism to assess and set priorities among its research and transfer activities. Develop a Cohesive Program Recommendation 2: The AFF Program should provide national leadership and coordination of research and transfer activities in agricultural, forestry, and fishing safety and health.
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6.b: The AFF Program should establish a coordinating council that would serve as a public advisory committee and would assume lead responsibility for informing public discourse on occupational safety and health issues. 6.c: The AFF Program should continue to partner with appropriate federal and state agencies and establish additional interagency partnerships to increase the capacity for carrying out research and transfer activities.
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14 A g r i c u lt u r e , F o r e s t r y , and Fishing Research at NIOSH • Establish Strategic Goals for Improvement in Administration and Evaluation • Develop a Cohesive Program • Implement a Comprehensive Surveillance System • Identify and Track AFF Populations at Risk • Conduct Research on Knowledge Diffusion Processes • Improve Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships • Implement Integrative and Interdisciplinary Approaches • Enhance Awareness of National Policy The AFF Program plays a positive and crucial role in providing information and tools to promote a safer and healthier work environment in agriculture, for estry, and fishing. The committee hopes that its recommendations will help refocus and redirect program efforts to have a greater impact on the safety and health of all populations at occupational risk in agriculture, forestry, and fishing.
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