Recommendations for Program Improvement - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 182

RECOMMENDATIONS
Establish Strategic Goals for Improvement in Administration and Evaluation
Recommendation 1: The AFF Program should establish strategic goals for
the overall program and for separate subpopulations to provide a basis
for improving program leadership, administrative oversight, and program
evaluation.
AFF Program strategic goals should flow from the original enabling legisla-
tion, with the obvious expansion of the program to include strategic goals for
forestry and fishing. The committee has highlighted the need for basic surveillance;
worker health status assessment; design, field testing, and evaluation of efficacious
interventions; provision of critical oversight mechanisms for professional educa-
tion; and research to track key drivers that affect AFF worksites. Such goals must
include capacity for NIOSH administration, inclusion of extramural centers, and
a mechanism for external advice.
1.a: The AFF Program lacks a concerted effort and should focus its admin-
istrative efforts on improving program leadership, administrative oversight,
and program documentation.
Improve Program Leadership
NIOSH is capable of deploying leadership across the AFF sectors. As mentioned
in the ideal research program (Chapter 2), the committee recommends that a single
person be charged with directing the entire program and overseeing, evaluating,
and communicating its plans. However, content experts would be in charge of each
arm of the program: a separate leader for agriculture, for forestry, and for fishing.
Accordingly, the AFF Program should cultivate a proactive leadership approach that
demonstrates inclusiveness and keen awareness of changes that take place across
agriculture, forestry, and fishing.
Improve Administrative Oversight
NIOSH should specifically re-examine its internal coordination mechanisms,
and implement simpler and more expedient means to ensure that all intramural
program elements are functioning in a manner consistent with epidemiological
insight and best management practices. The committee has serious reservations
about the extraordinarily complex matrix system currently developed for program
coordination, and instead recommends a relatively flat organization chart where