NIOSH Announces Winners of NORA Intramural Competition

Contact: Christina Bowles (202) 245-0633
October 20, 2008

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) today announced the winners of the Fiscal Year 2009 Intramural National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) competition. Demonstrating a high level of scientific merit and a focus on translating research into practice, awards were given to 17 projects in diverse areas covering some of the many priority needs in each of the NORA sectors.

The selected projects are conducted internally by NIOSH. They were chosen competitively from a larger array of internal projects for which NIOSH researchers applied for NORA funding. The final selections were made following peer review by experts from outside NIOSH.

The approved projects are expected to make substantial contributions to workplace safety and health. Some focus on research addressing the highest priority occupational safety and health issues, as determined by injury and illness surveillance information and the ongoing work of the NORA Sector Councils to draft strategic plans for the nation, such as deaths due to falls, injuries from contact with equipment, and safety issues in emergency vehicle design. Others will develop additional needed surveillance information or will identify and disseminate best practices to improve worker safety and health, such as preventing back injuries and other strains among health care workers from handling patients, and translating NIOSH rest break research into safety and health practice.

“As we advance through the second decade of NORA, this year’s proposals continue to demonstrate our researchers’ abilities in focusing on the priority needs of our stakeholders, working with diverse partners, and meeting high standards of scientific excellence,” said NIOSH Acting Director Christine M. Branche, Ph.D.

All project proposals were received by February 29, 2008, as a result of a June 18, 2007, solicitation. Forty-seven project proposals were peer reviewed by experts in four panels. The NORA Secondary Review Committee reviewed the external peer review results, along with input from NIOSH laboratories and divisions and from NIOSH program leaders, and made funding recommendations based on this information.

The list of approved projects follows. For further information about NIOSH research and recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths, visit the NIOSH Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/. Further information about NORA is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/.

Proposal Title	Sector	Other
Adoption and diffusion of safety improved nail-guns	Construction	Overcoming barriers
Effectiveness Evaluations of the NIOSH Roof Bracket Assembly	Construction	Laboratory and field study
Operating Room Personnel Exposure to Chemotherapy Drugs	Healthcare and Social Assistance	Field study
Best Practices for Bariatric Patient Handling	Healthcare and Social Assistance	Field study
Direct Reading Devices for Antineoplastic Drug Exposure	Healthcare and Social Assistance	Laboratory and field studies
Quality Assurance Techniques for Liquid Aerosols	Manufacturing	Sampling and analytical methods improvement
Nanoparticle properties and mechanisms causing lung fibrosis	Manufacturing	Laboratory study
Detection of DNA Damage in Workers Exposed to JP-8 Jet Fuel	Manufacturing; Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities	Laboratory study
Preventing contact injuries to oil and gas extraction workers	Mining – Oil and Gas Extraction Subsector	Barriers to adoption of automated technologies
Partnering with Industry to Build Safe EMS Work Environments	Services	Partners include manufacturers
Sizing Firefighters & Fire Apparatus: Safe by Design	Services	Anthropometric measures for design input
Translating NIOSH Rest Break Research into Practice	Services	Information dissemination for workers who use computers intensively
Shift Work and Stroke – Use of Animal Models to Identify Critical Factors	Services; Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities	Laboratory study
Forecasting the Burden of Injuries and Illnesses in Small Business	Services; Wholesale and Retail Trade	Economic modeling
Development of the NIOSH Pushing and Pulling Equation	Wholesale and Retail Trade	Practical ergonomic tool
National Health Interview Survey Occupational Health Supplement	All Workers	Enhance high priority occupational illness and injury data
Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System	All Workers	Software development