The future of intervention research at NIOSH

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recently made a commitment to increase both extramural and intramural support of control technology and intervention research. It is important for NIOSH to use intervention research more aggressively because it provides a mechanism to go beyond investigation, identification, and recommendations to actually determine if prevention has occurred. Intervention research can assess the effectiveness of the hierarchy of controls, workplace standards, and health and medical care, as well as provide important information on occupational disease and injury surveillance and health communication efforts. In pursuing intervention research, NIOSH will focus on enhancing its existing control technology and surveillance programs, seeking input from partners in industry and labor, pursuing interdisciplinary approaches, considering the cost and feasibility of controls, considering and integrating behavioral procedures, and widely disseminating the results.