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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2 The Ideal Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Research Program
2 The Ideal Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Research Program
Pages 32-45
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From page 32... ...
, 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. The committee relied on surveillance findings and its expert judgment to determine the major components of an "ideal" research program that would cut across the three sectors.
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From page 33... ...
The committee envisions a relatively flat organization chart; the person in charge of each arm would have a fair amount of responsibility to make decisions. The management matrix or organization structure would be flexible so that the AFF research teams can recognize and react quickly to changes in the AFF industries, the economy, new technologies, and relevant results of research in other programs, and managed in such a way that AFF research teams are encouraged to be proactive in anticipating and mitigating emerging risks and hazards.
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From page 34... ...
A short summary of the reviews would be accessible to the public. SPECIFIC PROGRAM COMPONENTS 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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From page 35... ...
. The private sector -- including the agricultural service and supply industries, insurance companies, private foundations, legal services providers, industry trade associations, ethnic self-help groups, and community service organizations -- is an essential part of an effective national strategy.
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From page 36... ...
Such studies would be initiated by a group of experts who meet jointly with carefully selected spokespersons representing important subgroups of the population of interest. The surveillance effort would regularly produce summary reports that are carefully designed in collaboration with experts and that are made available to the public through the Internet.
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From page 37... ...
. Assessing the number of AFF workers by race or ethnicity, age, and gender requires use of information outside traditional occupational safety and health data collection systems.
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From page 38... ...
Epidemiological research, toxicological research, laboratory-based physical and safety risk factor research, and exposure assessment research would be conducted as part of the ideal AFF Program. Epidemiological Research An ideal research program would use the surveillance results to identify target illnesses for further epidemiological study.
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From page 39... ...
Challenges would include the resources required for detailed toxicological studies, the logistics of partnering with other agencies to influence direction, and the large number of chemical, physical, and biological agents to which AFF workers are exposed. Laboratory-Based Physical and Safety Risk-Factor Research The ideal AFF Program would have access to state-of-the-art laboratory facilities adequately equipped to conduct the research needed to characterize safety risk factors for each AFF occupation.
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From page 40... ...
Challenges include financial resources, technical ex pertise and limitations in available technology, the variability of exposures among the different AFF occupations, and the extreme diversity of chemical, physical, and biological agents to which workers are exposed. The ideal AFF Program would take into consideration the complex mixtures of chemicals and environmental factors to which workers are routinely exposed.
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From page 41... ...
2-1.eps • Funding mechanisms that allow for the evaluation of long-term effectiveness. • Support of long-term prospective cohort studies of which intervention research is a substantial component.
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From page 42... ...
The workplace is the primary location at which those services are delivered to many workers, and this justifies the allocation of occupational health resources to meet general well ness needs. A special effort will be required to integrate health services research into the NIOSH agenda.
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From page 43... ...
Training programs for occupational safety and health students and practitioners pertinent to all aspects of occupational health relevant to AFF would be further developed, including training for subspecialist physicians with expertise in areas such as pulmonary disease and allergies. The existing NIOSH training of rural nurses with occupational expertise would be expanded.
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From page 44... ...
Field testing of new equipment and approaches is essential in an ideal AFF Program because the work environments of farmers, hired farm workers, loggers, and fishermen are substantially different from those in manufacturing and other work settings. Public Policy and Regulatory Advice As the research arm in occupational safety and health, the ideal AFF Program would offer independent, scientifically sound advice to inform public policy and assist regulatory agencies in protecting AFF worker populations.
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From page 45... ...
T h e I d e a l A g r i c u lt u r e , F o r e s t r y , and Fishing Research Program 45 ferences at which information derived from basic and applied research and from surveillance is exposed to public scrutiny. In addition to internal and external program reviews, overall program evaluations can provide a high level of evaluation of the overall NIOSH program, with examples including recent National Academies studies (IOM and NRC, 2006; NRC and IOM, 2007)
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