Agriculture Reference
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plemented because the costs of implementation are too high or the
economic incentives under current circumstances do not favor such
actions.
•
Improvements in end points are unobservable because baseline and
ongoing surveillance data are not available. For example, the current
incidence of occupational noise-induced hearing loss is not known
although surveillance for a significant threshold shift is feasible.
(NIOSH conducts surveillance of work-related illnesses, injuries, and
hazards, but comprehensive surveillance is not possible with existing
resources.)
•
Reductions in adverse effects of chronic exposure cannot be measured.
For example, 90% of identified work-related mortality is from diseases,
such as cancer, that arise only after decades of latency from first expo-
sure; therefore, effects of reducing exposure to a carcinogen cannot be
observed in the timeframe of most interventions.
•
A regulation is promulgated that requires a technology that was devel-
oped but not widely used.
III.B. Evaluating NIOSH Research Programs
(Addressing Charges 1 and 2)
III.B.1. Identifying Period of Time to Be Evaluated
Through study of materials presented by the NIOSH research program and
other sources, an EC will become familiar with the history of the research pro-
gram being evaluated and its major subprograms, program goals and objectives,
resources, and other pertinent information.
It is useful for the ECs to consider three general timeframes in conducting
their reviews:
•
1970-1995, the period from the founding of NIOSH to the initiation
of the NORA process (pre-NORA period).
•
1996-2005 (NORA 1 period).
•
Current period and forward (NORA 2 period).
It will be important for the ECs to get a general sense of the history of the
NIOSH research program and its impact, but their efforts should be focused on
the impact and relevance of NIOSH programs from 1996 on. It is recognized that
many of the intermediate and end outcomes since 1996 are the consequence of
research outputs accomplished earlier. Both the relevance of the research program
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