Priority Needs for Research on Work Hazard Controls Subject of March 10-12 NIOSH Workshop

Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 260-8519
January 22, 1998

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will co-sponsor a national workshop March 10-12, 1998, to stimulate the formulation of a national plan for research on new strategies to control existing health and safety hazards in the workplace, and to anticipate and prevent emerging problems.

Discussions and recommendations from the workshop, "Control of Workplace Hazards for the 21st Century: Setting the Research Agenda," will help NIOSH and other organizations determine where research will be most needed over the next decade to ensure the development and use of effective hazard controls. Other sponsors of the conference are the American Industrial Hygiene Association and the American Society of Safety Engineers. The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Chicago, Ill.

"As we approach the new century, we are seeing significant advancements in the tools that are available for protecting workers from injury and illness, and dramatic changes in the workplace that raise new issues for health and safety," said NIOSH Director Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. "This workshop will give diverse stakeholders a unique forum for discussing the impact of these changes on hazard controls, suggesting innovative technical solutions to today's concerns, and looking ahead at needs for timely, cost-saving approaches for protecting a new generation of workers."

Participants will review today's state-of-the-art research on hazard control, identify priority areas for ongoing research, explore new avenues and partnerships for furthering needed studies, and recommend ways to evaluate the effectiveness of the research.

Individual breakout sessions will look specifically at research needs pertaining to chemical protective clothing, engineering controls, noise, non-ionizing radiation, respirators, and traumatic injuries. The workshop is designed for researchers, designers, manufacturers, and users of engineering controls and protective equipment.

The conference is one of numerous projects under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). Developed by NIOSH with diverse stakeholder input and extensive public comment, NORA highlights priority areas for occupational safety and health research over the next decade.

Registration for the workshop should be made with ASSE at (847) 699-2929. Registration is $100 until March 3, 1998, and $120 afterward and on-site. Hotel reservations should be made directly with the Hyatt Regency Hotel (downtown Chicago) at tel. 1-800-233-1234. Reservations for a special guest rate for the conference can be made until Feb. 9, 1998.

For further details about registration and the agenda of the conference, visit the NIOSH home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh. Further information on NORA and other NIOSH research also is available on the home page, and from the toll-free NIOSH information number, 1-800-35-NIOSH(1-800-356-4674).