WORK ORGANIZATION AND STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS

Inputs: NIOSH Strategic Goals

The NIOSH Work Organization and Stress-Related Disorders Cross-Sector Program is in the process of developing strategic goals to guide our research and partnership efforts over the next decade.

NIOSH Program Portfolio Approach

NIOSH has been organizing research, guidance, information, and service efforts into specific programs that can be readily communicated and strategically governed and evaluated. Eight NORA Sector Programs represent industrial sectors, and twenty-four Cross-sector Programs organized around adverse health outcomes, statutory programs and global efforts.

The NORA Sector Programs intersect with Cross-Sector Programs in a matrix-like fashion. For example, an Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program goal of reducing farm-related deaths and injuries due to tractor rollovers and trucks would likely be a shared goal with the Transportation Program and if appropriate would be adopted by both programs. This approach provides an added advantage and will allow multiple Programs to work towards accomplishment of intersecting goals.

Each of the 32 programs in the NIOSH Program Portfolio has a Manager and Coordinator. Each of the 8 NIOSH Sector Programs facilitates the work of a NORA Sector Council to engage external stakeholders in the process of developing sector goals for the nation and methods to measure the short-term, intermediate and long-term outcomes arising from those goals. The NORA goals for the nation will be considered when choosing NIOSH sector program goals. Cross Sector programs have internal Steering Committees that develop program goals and monitor outcome measures.

These planning efforts will position NIOSH to align with the most current governmental approaches for evaluating program effectiveness, i.e., the Program Assessment Rating Tool (or PART). PART is a mechanism to hold governmental agencies accountable for accomplishing results. As part of our comprehensive approach to performance measurement, NIOSH has engaged the National Academies to independently evaluate our sector and cross-programs for relevance and impact.

Draft Work Organization and Stress-Related Disorders Goals

Recognizing these limitations, the Work Organization and Stress-Related Disorders Cross-Sector Program has formulated the set of starter goals listed below. These goals draw upon research and practice needs articulated in the NIOSH report The Changing Organization of Work and the Safety and Health of Working People that was developed by a multidisciplinary team of NIOSH staff and stakeholders. Additionally, these goals incorporate issues voiced at NORA town hall and program specific meetings, and needs arising from other NIOSH/CDC goal-setting activities. The Steering Committee for the Work Organization and Stress-related Disorders Cross-sector Program is meeting with stakeholders to refine the strategic goals described here, and define performance measures and expectations to evaluate progress toward these goals. Posting of an updated and expanded set of goals and performance measures for the Work Organization and Stress-related Disorders Program is planned for 2009.

Overarching Goal: Promote and protect the health and safety of people who work by preventing stress, illness, and injury related to the organization of work.

Strategic Goal 1: Improve the health and safety of working people through research to better understand work organization risk and protective factors related to stress, illness, and injury in the workplace.

Intermediate goals:

• Develop improved surveillance mechanisms to a) better track changes in the prevalence of work organization factors that represent known risks to safety and health; (b) identify and investigate emergent work organization factors that may present risk; and (c) better understand the distribution of work organization risk factors by sector, occupation, population, etc., to better target research.
• Develop methods to better characterize work organization risk factors for stress, illness and injury in the workplace.
• Identify work organization risk factors for stress, illness, and injury through laboratory research and workplace studies.
• Assess the health and safety consequences and social and economic burden of occupational safety and health problems related to job stress through laboratory research and workplace studies.

Strategic Goal 2: Promote safe and healthy workplaces through work organization interventions and recommendations.

Intermediate goals:

• Develop and evaluate interventions to eliminate or minimize work organization risk factors for stress, illness, and injury and to develop healthy, safer workplaces.
• Transfer work organization research findings and technologies into practice.
• Enhance the relevance and utility of occupational safety and health recommendations and guidance by contributing information on the prevention of work organization risk factors for stress, illness, and injury in the workplace.

Strategic Goal 3: Enhance and sustain worker safety and health through meaningful partnerships and resource/capacity building in work organization.

Intermediate goals:

• Build professional capacity to address work organization risk factors for stress, illness, and injury in the workplace.
• Leverage resources to better investigate and reduce work organization risk factors for stress, illness, and injury through strategic alliances with stakeholders in occupational safety and health.
• Promote development of, access to, and utilization of databases on work organization factors related to stress, illness, and injury to improve worker health and safety.