Activity

Review of the NIOSH Hearing Loss Research Program

Type:

Consensus Study

Topic(s):

Biomedical and Health Research, Environmental Health

Board(s):

Board on Health Sciences Policy

Activity Description

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) requested that the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine review as many as 15 of its programs with respect to their impact, relevance, and future directions.  Each program review was conducted by a separate committee. The IOM convened the Committee to Review the NIOSH Hearing Loss Prevention Program.

The committee examined the following issues for the Hearing Loss Prevention Program:

1.  Progress in reducing workplace illness and injuries through occupational safety and health research, assessed on the basis of an analysis of relevant data about workplace illnesses and injuries and an evaluation of the effect that NIOSH research has had in reducing illness and injuries.
2. Progress in targeting new research to the areas of occupational safety and health most relevant to future improvements in workplace protection.
3. Significant emerging research areas that appear especially important in terms of their relevance to the mission of NIOSH.

The committee evaluated the Hearing Loss Prevention Program using an assessment framework developed by the NRC/IOM Committee to Review the NIOSH Research Programs. 

The evaluation considered what the NIOSH program is producing as well as whether the program can reasonably be credited with changes in workplace practices, or whether such changes are the result of other factors unrelated to NIOSH.