Other Programmatic Elements Identified by the Committee - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 143

Many similar comments appear throughout the evidence package. One could
and logically would surmise that many projects have had a favorable impact on
improving the safety and health of the AFF workforce. However, the evidence
package, while providing significant evidence regarding programs in place, did
not document an evaluation process that could provide evidence of the overall
effectiveness of the AFF Program.
There is some evidence that program evaluations are conducted, but validation
of program effectiveness in reducing injuries and illnesses is not robust and needs
substantial improvement. A process for quantifying end outcomes and their impact
on reductions in injuries and illnesses and the evaluation of programs from a quali-
tative perspective needs to be established for all AFF projects. The process would be
linked to surveillance and designed to provide feedback that can be used to change
program priorities or activities if the present course of action is not having a sub-
stantial impact. NIOSH would use a standard best-practices approach. An evalua-
tion model such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's “Framework
for Program Evaluation in Public Health” would be adopted and used consistently
to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate all projects and programs.