Strategic Plan: FYs 2019-2023 Select Goals

The NIOSH Strategic Plan: FYs 2019-2023 describes the research priorities for the institute’s internal and external funding opportunities. This web page will guide you on how to determine whether a research idea aligns with the goal(s) in the strategic plan.

Goals in the NIOSH Strategic Plan are organized by sector and cross-sector, using the same structure as the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). NIOSH has ten sector programs based on major areas of the U.S. economy and seven cross-sector programs organized according to the major health and safety issues affecting the U.S. working population. Sector and cross-sector programs are set up in a 10×7 program grid. Each cell in the grid represents the area of mutual research priority between a sector and cross-sector.

• For example, both the Construction Sector Program and Traumatic Injury Prevention Cross-Sector Program have prioritized reducing falls in the construction industry.

In order to select goals, you first identify sector(s), then cross-sectors(s).

Identifying the Sector(s)

Sector definitions follow the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Detailed information about NAICS can be found on the U.S. Census Bureau North American Industry Classification System pageexternal icon. NAICS provides definitions for 20 sectorsexternal icon, which NIOSH aggregates into ten sector groups as follows:

If you are not sure which sector a job falls under, use your favorite internet search engine and include the job title with the phrase “NAICS code.”

• For example, searching for “flight attendant NAICS code” turns up that flight attendants are under NAICS code 481 Air Transportation, which is part of the Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities sector.

Research concepts may fall under more than one sector.

• For example, a project that involves welders may fall under both the Construction and Manufacturing sectors. However, the sector for the project is determined by the worker group that is directly participating in the research or will directly benefit. In this example, if the proposed welding project used a sample of welders working in the construction industry, only the Construction goals would be applicable.

Laboratory and surveillance research projects often relate to multiple sectors, while intervention and translation research is usually more focused on one sector.

Identifying the Cross-sector(s)

Cross-sectors are organized by health and safety issues as follows:

Most health and safety issues fall under one cross-sector, but occasionally a topic is split across multiple cross-sectors. In these instances, the proper cross-sector for the research proposal is determined by the type of research. Below are some examples:

• Heat stress – Basic/etiologic projects focused on the mechanistic effects of heat stress fall under Cancer, Reproductive, and Cardiovascular and Other Chronic Disease Prevention. Intervention studies fall under Healthy Work Design and Well-Being, because the interventions for heat stress usually involve the organization of work (e.g., acclimation schedules, rest breaks, etc.).
• Substance use/misuse – Use and misuse of opioids and other substances has been linked to workplace musculoskeletal injuries (such as low back pain) and traumatic injuries, making preventing those injuries and providing worker support following those injuries a priority in Musculoskeletal Health and Traumatic Injury Prevention. Additionally, research on the psychosocial aspects of substance use/misuse would fall under Healthy Work Design and Well-Being.
• Work-related asthma – Mechanistic studies of exposures leading to allergic sensitization fall under Immune, Infectious, and Dermal Disease Prevention, while epidemiological and intervention studies go under Respiratory Health.

Projects themselves may relate to more than one cross-sector. For example, a project that investigates the link between an exposure and pulmonary, kidney, and cardiac function would relate to both the Respiratory Health and Cancer, Reproductive, Cardiovascular, and Other Chronic Disease Prevention cross-sectors.

Selecting Goal(s)

After identifying the relevant sector(s) and cross-sector(s), it’s time to select goals.  There are three levels of goals in a nested structure: strategic goals -> intermediate goals -> activity goals.

Strategic Goals

The seven strategic goals correspond directly with the seven cross-sectors.

Intermediate Goal(s)

Once you determine which strategic goal(s) are most appropriate for your project, the next step is to identify specific intermediate goals within that strategic goal category using the 10×7 program grid. Look for goals in the cells where each sector and cross-sector intersects. Click the links to review each intermediate goal and its associated goal table, burden statement, and need statement, and then determine if there is a match between your research idea and the goal. The intermediate goal tables provide additional details about research needs and each row is intended to be read independently.

Note that choosing multiple goals is not necessarily better. Often it is more beneficial to align to one intermediate goal very well than somewhat align to several goals. That said, if a research topic is very broad, such as young workers in any sector, it may make sense to use multiple intermediate goals. If there is no goal in a cell, that area is not a priority for NIOSH.

If your idea doesn’t match to any goals, consider how you could adjust your concept. NIOSH has carefully chosen the priorities in the NIOSH Strategic Plan using burden, need, and impact criteria in order to get maximum benefit from its investments. Projects funded within NIOSH are expected to respond to at least one strategic and intermediate goal. For extramural investigator-initiated research, priority is given to proposals that clearly address strategic and intermediate goals in making funding decisions. Please note that NIOSH has identified priority goals for extramural research to fill important research gaps that are currently not being addressed by NIOSH intramural or internal projects.

Activity goal(s)

Lastly, you must select an activity goal that appropriately classifies the type of research your project will be performing. NIOSH has adopted an organizing framework comprised of four types of research:

• Basic/etiologic: Builds a foundation of scientific knowledge to base future interventions. Most laboratory research falls into this category, as well as exposure assessment.
• Intervention: Engages in the development, testing, or evaluation of a solution to an occupational safety and health problem or the improvement of an existing intervention. Intervention is a broad term that includes engineering controls, personal protective equipment, training, and fact sheets and other written materials intended to inform and change behavior, among other occupational safety and health solutions.
• Translation: Discovers strategies to translate research findings and theoretical knowledge to practices or technologies in the workplace. This type of research seeks to understand why available, effective, evidence-based interventions are not being adopted.
• Surveillance: Develops new surveillance methods, tools, and analytical techniques.

Investigators external to NIOSH may contact the NIOSH Office of Extramural Programs with questions. NIOSH investigators may contact the NIOSH Program Portfolio Coordinator.