Key points
- The NIOSH Surveillance Program improves worker safety by identifying and tracking workplace injuries, illnesses, hazards, deaths and exposures in the U.S.
- Partners collect and provide data for surveillance studies that provide information about injuries and illnesses occurring among workers in different jobs.
Overview
To Learn More
This page provides information about the goals and activities of this NIOSH Research Program. For related prevention and safety information please visit Worker Health and Safety Surveillance
The NIOSH Surveillance Program aims to:
- Expand awareness, knowledge and use of occupational safety and health (OSH) surveillance data.
- Build OSH surveillance capacity for state, territorial, local, and tribal (STLT) jurisdictions.
- Examine surveillance trends by visualizing data from partners.
Program priorities
The Surveillance Program supports all seven of the NIOSH strategic goals outlined in the NIOSH Strategic Plan for FYs 2019-2026. Surveillance activities are reflected in two categories of goals:
- Service goals track workplace injuries and deaths in the U.S.
- Research goals focus on new methods, tools, and analytical techniques.
What we've accomplished
In 2022-2023, the Program:
- Expanded Worker Health Charts (WHC) by adding surveillance data from the NIOSH Fatalities in Oil and Gas database.
- Refreshed NIOSH Lead webpage and added information to reduce take-home lead exposure.
- Upgraded NIOCCS to code emerging industries and occupations (I/O) using the latest classification schemes.
- Incorporated I/O data elements in health IT data sharing standards and the US Core Data for Interoperability to prepare for I/O data to be required in EHRs.
- Published papers assessing pneumoconiosis among former coal miners, and respirable silica exposures among metal and non-metal miners.
- Visualized personal protective equipment (PPE) supply and demand by respirator model and manufacturer. Published PPE inventory shared by hospitals to enhance emergency preparedness at local, state, and national levels.
- Increased awareness of the importance of recognizing work as a social determinant of health (SDOH) in a blog and publications.
What's ahead
In the future, the Program aims to:
- Assess how useful web-based EHR query tools are for occupational health surveillance.
- Publish a science blog highlighting the hazards of workplace exposure to cannabis and the risk of work-related asthma and allergies.
- Use the National Health Interview Survey to assess health conditions in male workers in industries relying on manual labor occupations.
- Add I/O National Vital Statistics System mortality data to WHC.
- Enhance NIOCCS to review, visualize, and analyze I/O data. Integrate the ability to code Spanish I/O text.
Content Source:
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health