National Construction Agenda: Surveillance Strategic Goal

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in conjunction with construction researchers and stakeholders, has developed a National Construction Agenda consisting of 15 strategic goals to address the leading problems in construction safety and health. The Agenda is important because it provides guidance for construction industries, labor organizations, professionals, and academics to prioritize their work plans among the many competing safety and health issues of interest. Strategic Goal 14 is to “Improve surveillance at the Federal, State, and private level to support the identification of hazards and associated illnesses and injuries; the evaluation of intervention and organizational program effectiveness; and the identification of emerging health and safety priorities in construction.” This presentation will discuss two intermediate goals related to surveillance: Goal 14.1 “Partner with surveillance researchers and federal and state surveillance programs to support, enhance and expand collection of traditional surveillance information relevant for the construction sector”; and Goal 14.2 “Partner with professional associations, surveillance experts, insurance companies, regulatory and consultation organizations to explore, develop, and implement new types of constructions-sector hazard, exposure, and performance indicators to supplement current surveillance approaches.” In addition, related research goals will be discussed. These goals support the need for surveillance information for effective prevention and reduction of injuries and illnesses in construction.