Division of Safety Research (DSR)

The Division of Safety Research (DSR) serves as the focal point for the Institute's traumatic occupational injury research program. The Division's programs are organized around the public health approach to occupational injury prevention. DSR programs encompass surveillance, field investigations, analytic epidemiology, protective technology and safety engineering.

Surveillance Systems

DSR maintains a number of fatal and non-fatal injury surveillance systems which are used to prioritize research needs, target prevention efforts, and monitor trends. Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has provided DSR with a special research file for the multi-source Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries that facilitates detailed analyses and interpretation of occupational injury deaths occurring since 1992. DSR also maintains data from the NIOSH-developed National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system which is based on death certificate data. NTOF contains information on more than 100,000 worker deaths in the United States that occurred from 1980 through 2001. The Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program conducts epidemiologic field investigations of work-related deaths. Results of each FACE investigation provide recommendations for preventing similar events in the future. To help fill gaps in data on nonfatal occupational injuries, NIOSH conducts surveillance of occupational injuries and illnesses treated in a nationally representative sample of hospital emergency departments through a work supplement to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS-Work) and through periodic surveys of farm operators and workers.

Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program

In fiscal year 1998, NIOSH implemented a program to conduct FACE investigations of line-of-duty deaths to fire fighters in response to a Congressional appropriation for a fire fighter safety initiative. The overall goal of this program is to better define characteristics of line-of-duty deaths among fire fighters, develop recommendations for the prevention of injuries and deaths, and implement and disseminate prevention efforts to the fire service.

Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative

Through funding received by NIOSH through Congress in fiscal year 1997, DSR launched a continuing initiative to prevent injury and death among children while living, working, or visiting agricultural work environments (primarily farms). The activities of the initiative include conducting surveillance and research to fill critical data needs, an extramural research program addressing research priorities, facilitating the use of data for prevention efforts, and encouraging adoption of effective injury prevention efforts by the private and public sectors.

Field Research

The DSR analytic epidemiology program is aimed at determining causes and risk factors for work-related trauma, and evaluating the efficacy of interventions through epidemiologic field studies. This program works with industry partners to evaluate best practice solutions as well as emerging technologies to prevent occupational traumatic injuries. The current emphasis of this program is in the prevention of violence to workers in schools, psychiatric hospitals, late night retail establishments, and taxicabs; prevention of slips trips and falls in health care facilities, food service, manufacturing and large retail establishments; and prevention of tractor roll over fatalities on farms.

Workplace Violence

In 2002, Congress allocated funds to develop an intramural and extramural research program targeting all aspects of workplace violence prevention. These funds are being used to support extramural research grants, conduct nationally representative surveys, implement a federal interagency taskforce on workplace violence, and conduct field studies to evaluate risk factors and intervention effectiveness for the prevention of workplace violence in high risk industries and occupations.

Laboratory Studies

The DSR protective technology and safety engineering programs emphasize developing engineering controls, safe work practices, and protective equipment for the prevention of traumatic injuries and fatalities.

DSR's protective technology and safety engineering programs emphasize: developing engineering controls, safe work practices, and protective equipment for the prevention of traumatic injuries and fatalities. The program conducts studies in both laboratory and field settings, and uses advanced technologies and state-of-the-art research laboratories for furthering occupational safety research. The current program focus is on fall prevention and protection, anthropometry and digital human modeling for protective equipment and workplace design, and emerging technology research and development for several high risk occupations including taxi drivers, truck drivers, fire fighters, farm tractor operators and Hispanic construction workers.