GLOBAL COLLABORATIONS

Activities: NIOSH Research Projects

NIOSH Projects in the WHO Global Coordinating Centers Network Work Plan 2009-2012

The WHO CCs in Occupational Health have been carrying out national, regional and global projects to assist countries to implement their commitments to the Global Plan of Action for Workers Health in the 2009-2012 Workplan. NIOSH has 15 projects in the workplan, advancing efforts to provide practical tools and guidance for workers globally. View the 2009-2012 WHO Collaborating Center Network Workplan .

NIOSH International Projects

NIOSH en Español Web site

NIOSH has developed an active NIOSH en Español Web site. Launched in 2001, the NIOSH en Español Web site consists mainly of Spanish-language versions of NIOSH documents and NIOSH-sponsored databases. The site also includes links to external sites with occupational safety and health information from other government agencies, universities, and international organizations that would be useful to Spanish-speaking workers and their employers. In 2006, the NIOSH Spanish-language pages had an average of 33,400 visitors per month.

Hispanic Construction Workers and Televised Spanish Language Soap Opera

NIOSH collaborated with the Center for Construction Research and Training and Hollywood Health & Society to raise awareness among Latino construction workers, their families, and their communities of their disproportionate risk of work-related injury. The partnership provided technical information to the Spanish-language TV network Telemundo for the development of a construction safety storyline in the primetime Spanish-language soap opera Pecados Ajenos (The Sins of Others). The storyline aired in April 2008. A public service announcement was also aired during the time the storyline was featured on the show and referred viewers to a Spanish-language website . The storyline recently won a Sentinel for Health Award from the University of Southern California for excellence in addressing a health topic in a televised storyline.

Project officer: Maria Lioce-Mata

National Agricultural Workers Survey

The National Agricultural Workers survey collects project data from a random sample of all hired farm workers employed in crop agriculture. The majority of these workers are Mexican immigrants; about 25% of which cross the US-Mexico border each year. NIOSH has been collaborating with the Department of Labor (DOL) since 1999 to include some occupational health-related questions in this survey. In 2005, a report of this data was completed and will be published as a NIOSH report in 2006. It will also be reported in an article in the Journal of the American Public Health Association as part of a group of articles on the health and safety of immigrant workers in the US.

Project officer: Sherry Baron

Improving Immigrant Worker Safety and Health

In October 2004, a national meeting was held to develop recommendations for improved surveillance and interventions to address safety and health needs for immigrant workers in the US, most of whom are immigrants from Mexico. The materials presented at this meeting are currently being used to develop a NIOSH publication that presents data and case studies from around the US. A series of articles are being prepared for the Journal of the American Public Health Association. Additionally, NIOSH has funded 7 extramural environmental justice grants that are developing outreach and education programs for immigrant workers. These include 6 projects which focus on Mexican immigrants including:

3 projects centered on farmworkers
- 1 involving indigenous Mexican farmworkers in Oregon
- 2 involving farmworkers in New York State and Washington State
1 project focusing on day laborers in San Francisco
1 project focusing on poultry workers in North Carolina
1 project focusing on restaurant workers in New York City