The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is a US Federal Agency responsible for research of work-related disease and injury. They develop and provide necessary regulations and recommendations on a periodic basis to limit the exposure of hazardous substances or potentially unsafe environments in the workplace. NIOSH also provides measures to prevent or reduce the adverse effects of the hazards on human and environmental health. The mission of NIOSH is the generation of new knowledge, in the occupational safety and health field, and transferring that knowledge into practice for the betterment and well-being of workers. Scientific research is conducted by NIOSH to accomplish this mission, alongside developing guidance and authoritative recommendations, disseminating information, and responding to requests for workplace health hazard evaluations.
There 6 values NIOSH bases their agency on. Firstly, relevance, making sure that the programs are responsive to the occupational safety and health issues that burden workers. Next is quality, NIOSH utilizes the best scientific research, the highest level of data quality and the most transparent peer review. Another value which NIOSH is accredited for is their partnership. Working alongside industry, academe, workers, government and the scientific and the professional communities, both nationally and globally. Next is transparency, NIOSH is clear and open on all information about working processes and their customers can obtain the full NIOSH services and products through traditional, mobile, and electronic sources. NIOSH values their impact. Their programs are result orientated and are evaluation goes according to the solutions put in place for the problems of occupational safety and health found in workplaces on a daily basis, and lastly, NIOSH values diversity. Contractors and employees reflect various ethnic backgrounds found in the American workforce and research and interventions reflect the diversity of solutions needed for the American working environment.
NIOSH has released a document in guidance of preparing a workplace for the recent COVID-19 outbreak. Their main aim is to reduce the impact of the virus based on traditional infection prevention and industrial hygiene practices. It focuses the need employers should have in implementing administrative, engineering and work practice controls and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as considerations for doing so. The guidelines were set out to aid employees identify risk levels in workplace settings and to determine any appropriate control measures to implement.
NIOSH is a diverse organization that falls under the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The wide range of disciplines that NIOSH represents include industrial hygiene, medicine, epidemiology, nursing, safety, chemistry, psychology, engineering, economics, and statistics. NIOSH’s headquarters is located in Washington DC, and have offices and divisions aimed at research in Atlanta, Georgia; Bruceton, Pennsylvania; Morgantown, West Virginia; Spokane, Washington and Cincinnati, Ohio.
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