Background - An Agenda for the 21st Century
In April 1996, NIOSH and its partners unveiled the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), a framework to guide occupational safety and health research into the next decade—not only for NIOSH but for the entire occupational safety and health community. Approximately 500 organizations and individuals outside NIOSH provided input into the development of the Agenda. Before NORA no national research agenda existed in the field of occupational safety and health, and no research agenda in any field had captured such broad input and consensus. The NORA process resulted in a remarkable consensus about the top 21 research priorities (see table below).
NORA arose out of the recognition that occupational safety and health research in both the public and private sectors would benefit from targeting limited resources. The creators of the Agenda also recognized the need to address changes in the U.S. workplace, as well as the increasingly diversified workforce. The distribution of jobs in our economy continues to shift from manufacturing to services. Longer hours, compressed work weeks, shift work, reduced job security, and part-time and temporary work are realities of the modern workplace. By the year 2005, the U.S. workforce will grow to an estimated 147 million, with minorities representing 28 percent of the workforce and with women representing approximately 48 percent.
