Committee Methods for Gathering Information - Agriculture Forestry and Fishing Research at NIOSH - page 265

members did not contact any stakeholders directly. The letter was also made avail-
able publicly from early April through early June 2007 in a posting on a National
Academies Web site. In addition, a NIOSH Web page noted the opportunity for
NIOSH stakeholders to provide input to the review and provided a link to the Na-
tional Academies site. Interested stakeholders were asked to send their comments to
the study staff via postal mail, e-mail, or the project Web site. Responses could be
submitted anonymously through the Web site. The committee invited stakeholder
comments on several points: familiarity with NIOSH activities and products related
to AFF, experience in working with NIOSH, the relevance and impact of NIOSH's
work over the last decade in reducing occupational injuries and fatalities, and the
major research challenges over the last decade and significant emerging research
needs in AFF safety and health.
By June 2006, 64 responses had been received. Stakeholder comments are
available to the public through the National Academies Public Access file and were
provided to NIOSH in their original form.
Overall, the NIOSH stakeholders who responded provided favorable com-
ments. The committee recognizes that the responses to the request for comments
are not necessarily representative of all NIOSH stakeholders. However, the com-
ments provided to the committee gave helpful insights into respondents' perspec-
tives on the NIOSH AFF Program and informed the committee's understanding
of the program's relationship with some of its stakeholders.

Comments on Emerging Research Needs or Opportunities

To assist the committee in reviewing stakeholder input, the staff compiled
the comments on emerging research needs or opportunities. The compilation is
presented in Box B-2; some comments are captured in abbreviated form, and oth-
ers are presented nearly verbatim. No attempt was made to evaluate the merits of
individual stakeholder suggestions or to set priorities within or between the broad
research categories used by the staff to group the comments. The presentation of
suggestions in Box B-2 does not represent an endorsement by the committee.

Respondents

The following responded to the committee's invitation for comments on the
NIOSH AFF Program:

Brian Aldrich
Cornell University

Steven Banks
Farmer