The NIOSH Construction Program: Research to practice, impact, and developing a National Construction Agenda

The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts research to improve and protect the health and safety of workers. This paper describes the experience of the NIOSH Construction Program with two recent program planning initiatives intended to improve the program: (a) an independent external review of work over the past decade and (b) the development of strategic goals organized into a “National Construction Agenda” to guide a decade of future work. These goals, developed with input from construction industry stakeholders and researchers, are a part of the NIOSH National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) initiative. The NORA goals are intended to provide an ambitious set of goals for all construction stakeholders to work together on. Both efforts relate to insuring the relevance and impact of research, reflecting an emerging policy perspective that research programs should be judged not just by the quality and quantity of science produced, but by the industry impact and tangible benefit resulting from the research. This paper describes how views on research planning have evolved to incorporate lessons learned about how research leads to improved safety and health for workers. It also describes the process used to develop the goals and the resulting strategic and intermediate goals that comprise the National Construction Agenda.