Global Collaborations

NIOSH has been engaged with the international community since its creation in 1970, and it continues to promote occupational safety and health through partnerships and affiliations with organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

World Health Organization: Global Network of Collaborating Centers

The WHO Global Network of Collaborating Centers (CCs) in Occupational Health has a broad and active membership that includes 55 organizations representing a substantial component of the world's leading ministerial, academic, and professional communities in occupational health. The Global Network also includes three international non-governmental organizations in formal affiliation with WHO: the International Commission on Occupational Health, the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA), and the International Ergonomics Association. The WHO occupational health staff in Geneva and the Regional Advisors in Occupational Health constitute the Secretariat, and the ILO is an active partner. The coordinated and direct interactions among the members of the Global Network expand greatly the global reach of the occupational health program at WHO headquarters, the occupational health programs of the WHO Regional offices, and the programs of ILO.

This Network, chaired by the NIOSH Director, serves as a key route for international collaborations that address priority needs of workers in the U.S. and globally. The Network members work together to address the priorities of the Global Plan of Action for Workers Health. Learn about the WHO’s work in occupational health at http://www.who.int/occupational_health/en/ .

Global Plan of Action for Workers' Health: The Global Plan of Action for Workers' Health, Resolution 60.26, was passed by the World Health Assembly in May 2007 to address all aspects of workers' health. This includes primary prevention of occupational hazards, protection and promotion of health at work, employment conditions, and improving the response of health systems to workers' health. View the Global Plan of Action here.

International Labor Organization

International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centers and SafeWork: The ILO formulates international labor standards such as freedom of association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labor, equality of opportunity and treatment, and other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of work-related issues. NIOSH collaborates with ILO largely through the ILO InFocus Program on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment (SafeWork).

CIS Center: NIOSH has been an International Occupational Safety and Health Information (CIS) Center since 1970. Enhancing OSH knowledge and information networking activities is a strategic objective of the ILO. A key role is to enrich the worldwide dialogue on prevention through various means and activities aiming together at strengthening and actively supporting the contribution of knowledge in OSH to the large societal debates on the topic. The CIS network provides a basis for collaboration among OSH agencies, institutions and organizations.

Chest Radiography Guidelines and Digitization:A series of guidelines on how to classify chest radiographs for persons with pneumoconioses has been published by the ILO since 1950. The goal of this process is to describe and codify the radiographic abnormalities of the pneumoconioses in a simple, reproducible manner. The Guidelines for the Use of the ILO International Classification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses: ILO Standard Digital Images (ILO 2011-D) can be found in DICOM Format.

NIOSH has been a partner to ILO in converting the radiographic reading process from standard film to digital reading. Additional information about radiographic reading and the ILO system, including recommendations or "best practices" for use of the ILO system in different settings can be found on the NIOSH Chest Radiography Topic Page.

International Program on Chemical Safety

The International Program on Chemical Safety (IPCS) was established in 1980. It is a joint program of three United Nations Cooperating Organizations – WHO, ILO, and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which implement activities related to chemical safety. NIOSH is a collaborating partner in many of the IPCS activities. Additional information on NIOSH contributions can be found on the following web pages:

• International Chemical Safety Cards
• Concise International Chemical Assessment Documents (CICADs)

International Organization for Standardization(ISO)

Workers everywhere benefit from application of voluntary standards developed by ISO Technical Committees. ISO standards are developed by Technical Committees, (subcommittees or project committees) comprising experts from the industrial, technical and business sectors which have asked for the standards, and which subsequently put them to use. These experts may be joined by representatives of government agencies, testing laboratories, consumer associations, non-governmental organizations and academic circles. NIOSH experts participate in Technical Committees yielding standards ranging from respirators to workplace air to silica exposure to laboratory methods to road safety. Because ISO standards are voluntary agreements, they need to be based on a solid consensus of international expert opinion.

For more information about ISO

Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Collaboration prepares and promotes systematic reviews, entitled Cochrane Reviews, of primary research in human health interventions and health policy, which are internationally recognized as the highest standard in evidence-based health care. They are published online in The Cochrane Library. NIOSH contributes to these reviews and is also represented on the Advisory Board and the Editorial Board of the Cochrane Occupational Safety and Health Review Group.