Services Program

Workers in the Services sector

The Services Program provides leadership to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities among the nation’s 68 million service workers. The Services Program works with partners in industry, labor, and trade associations to reduce traumatic injuries in targeted subsectors and address emerging issues.

Featured Items

COVID-19 Information
Information about workplace resources, and detailed information about vaccines, are available to help Services workers and worksites minimize the impact of COVID-19.

New Set of Best Practices to Help Host Employers Protect Temporary Workers
The future of work brings new challenges to occupational safety and health, including how to best protect and promote the safety and health of workers employed through non-standard work arrangements, such as temporary agency work. Host employers of temporary workers (i.e., the clients of staffing companies) should do their part to optimize the safety, health, and productivity of their workers. NIOSH and partners have released a new set of workplace safety and health best practices for host employers with information on contracting with staffing companies, training, injury response, and more.

Occupational Injuries and Illnesses among Landscaping Workers in Ohio
The landscaping services industry has higher rates of both fatal and nonfatal injuries than the all-industry average in the U.S. This study examined claims data from 2001-2017 from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to characterize occupational injuries and illnesses in this industry in Ohio. The most common events or exposures included “struck by object or equipment” and “overexertion involving outside sources.” The total cost of claims from the landscaping services industry during this time period was over $226 million. Targeted strategies for improving landscaper safety are recommended based on the findings.

Description

The services sector has approximately 68 million workers and includes all jobs under NAICS codes 51-56, 61,71-72,81 & 92. The occupational environments for workers in the services sectors are diverse and include offices, hotel rooms, indoor and outdoor entertainment facilities, restaurants, classrooms, automotive garages, waste collection/treatment/disposal facilities, personal care establishments, public roads, and private households. Some service workers frequently travel on roadways as part of their jobs and many service jobs are physically demanding. As a result, there are a variety of occupational hazards that can potentially affect the safety and health of these workers.

Research Priorities

The Services program has selected research priorities on the basis of burden, need, and impact and collaborated with other NIOSH research programs to write the research goals in the NIOSH Strategic Plan for FYs 2019-2024. The priority areas are:

Accomplishments

The Services Program Performance One-Pager (PPOP) offers a snapshot of NIOSH programs’ priorities, strategies used to make progress towards priorities, recent accomplishments, and upcoming work.

To learn more

Resource and Topic Pages
More information on specific workplace safety and health topics and useful resources can be found on the following topic pages:

Health Hazard Evaluations (HHEs)
HHEs provide authoritative assistance in evaluating new and recurring workplace health hazards and recommended preventive measures based on evaluation findings Health Hazard Evaluations (HHEs) related to the services sector. Select “Services (except Public Safety)” as the industry category.

NORA Council
The Services Program helps lead the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Services Sector Council, which brings together individuals and organizations to share information, form partnerships, and promote adoption and dissemination of solutions that work. An important priority for the Sector is to address needs of workers who experience disproportionate incidence of occupational injuries and illnesses, such as temporary and contingent workers. Other important issues that cut across much of the services industry include occupational stress, hearing loss, and musculoskeletal disorders. The NORA for Services is intended to identify the knowledge and actions most urgently needed to identify occupational risk factors to prevent avoidable adverse health outcomes among Service workers. The final version of the NORA for Services can be found here.

Contact the Services Program with any questions at lmenger-ogle@cdc.gov