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May-June 2018

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18 PalletCentral • May-June 2018 palletcentral.com he National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) is an agency that was created in 1970, as part of the Occupational Safety & Health Act of 1970, to be a companion agency to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). When Congress created NIOSH, it was tasked with conducting intramural and extramural research on occupational safety and health issues across a wide array of industry sectors, in order to spot emergent hazards that might require intervention, to inform OSHA's regulatory decisions, and to develop tools and training materials to be used by employers nationwide to better protect their workers. During the George W. Bush administration, NWPCA had an alliance with NIOSH (as well as with OSHA) and at that time NIOSH participated in various training events and also developed some assistance materials for pallet manufacturers that covered guarding hazards, amputation prevention, and noise control. The alliances fell out of favor, as political winds shifted during the Obama era toward a more enforcement-centric model, but all indications are that, in the new administration, these proactive cooperative efforts may resume. NIOSH is located within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and is housed within the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This was intentional: to keep it distinct from the U.S. Department of Labor (where OSHA is located) and separate the compliance assistance and research functions from those of OSHA enforcement. While NIOSH can do on-site work, including Health Hazard Evaluations made at the request of workers or employers, they lack enforcement authority such as issuing citations or penalties. President Trump's proposed FY 2019 budget, however, would cut NIOSH funding by as much as 40 percent, move it from its CDC home base and place it within the National Institutes of Health – the plan is to ultimately dissolve NIOSH entirely and have other agencies absorb its functions. Despite the threat to its ongoing existence, NIOSH has continued working to improve its research programs, by updating its National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), which is entering its third decade. NORA is a partnership program to stimulate innovative research and workplace interventions. In combination with other initiatives, the products of this program are expected to reduce the occurrence of injuries and illnesses at work. Diverse parties collaborate to identify the most critical issues in workplace safety and health, and develop research objectives for addressing those needs. NORA is carried out through multi-stakeholder councils, which are developing and implementing research agendas for the occupational safety and health community over the current decade (2016-2026). These councils address objectives through information exchange, partnership building, and enhanced dissemination and implementation of evidence-based solutions. While NIOSH is the steward of NORA's efforts, it is but one of many partners, and the councils do not aim to give "consensus" advice to NIOSH, but rather seek a way to maximize resources toward improved occupational safety and health. There are currently 10 NORA sector groups, as well as 7 cross- sector councils that focus on core safety and health issues that are present in multiple industries. During 2017 and currently ongoing, NIOSH has solicited input from the general public and affected stakeholders for its proposed updates to the NORA agendas for various sectors, via published notices in the Federal Register. While the work of NORA groups can benefit other industries, the key sector council agendas affecting NWPCA members are the Manufacturing Sector and the Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities Sector. The cross-sector councils address issues including: • Cancer, reproductive hazards, cardiovascular and chronic disease prevention – for NWPCA members, these activities involve prevention of illnesses due to wood dust exposure, solvents or other chemicals, as well as stress-related illnesses; • Hearing loss prevention – Many pallet companies have high T NIOSH's Research Agenda's Third Decade: Implications for Safety By Adele L. Abrams, Esq., CMSP SAFETY

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