# Presentation: 421251

## NIOSH Road Safety Research

**Current Projects and Future Directions**
**May 25, 2005**

- Stephanie Pratt

- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

## Rationale for NIOSH Involvement

**Related to mission of conducting research and making recommendations to prevent work-related injury and illness**
**Motor vehicle crashes are leading cause of death for all workers**
**Truck drivers have high numbers of crash fatalities and nonfatal injuries from all causes**
**Customers want prevention strategies based on research**

## Motor Vehicle Research Projects

**Trucking focus:**
**Work Organization Influence on Fatigue in Truck Drivers**
**Examining organizational factors associated with driver fatigue and crashes**
**Mortality among Independent Owner-Operator Truck Drivers**
**Assessing whether truck drivers are at risk of premature mortality from specific diseases**

## Research Projects (cont.)

**Focus on other worker populations:**
**Ambulance Crash Survivability Improvement**
**Developing engineering interventions to improve occupant restraint systems and structural integrity of ambulance patient compartment**
**Risk Factors for Vehicle Crashes among Public Employees**
**Analyzing nonfatal crash data for state DOT employees and assessing vehicle safety programs; collaborating with U.S. Department of Defense to analyze crash data for active duty military personnel**

## NIOSH Transportation Initiative

**Preventing motor vehicle crashes and crash-related injuries among all workers who drive on the job**
**Preventing all types of occupational injury and illness among workers employed in the transportation industry**

## Transportation Initiative Focus

**Virtual research center, with NIOSH-wide steering committee providing guidance **
**Develop capacity among NIOSH staff**
**Identify and fill research gaps**
**Build collaborations with partners in public and private sectors**

## Pilot Projects for 2005

**Evaluation of the effects of firefighter apparel on the operation of a fire response vehicle **
**Non-fatal work-related roadway crash injuries by industry and occupation**
**Field evaluation of a continuous passive lumbar motion system for long haul truckers **
**Truck operator warning zones **
**Identification of risk factors leading to injuries among female package delivery drivers**

## Committees

**ANSI Z-15 Committee, Safe Practices for Motor Vehicle Operations**
**Transportation Research Board, Truck and Bus Safety Committee [FMCSA]**
**Network of Employers for Traffic Safety [NHTSA, FMCSA, FHWA]**
**National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH), motor vehicle safety work group [OSHA]**
**Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services [NHTSA]**
**Roadway Work Zone Safety and Health Coalition [with OSHA, construction trade associations, and labor] **
**Interagency panel advising on formulating an evidence-based strategy for regulating truckers’ hours of service [FMCSA]**

## Possible Future Activities

**Multi-year project: anthropometric database for a nationally representative sample of truck drivers (FY06)**
**External research initiative: trucker safety and health (FY07)**
**Collaboration with a national provider of pest control services**
**Matching of Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries with FARS**

## Research Needs

**Non-fatal crashes: circumstances and risk factors**
**Driving habits, intensity, and exposure, especially among non-”professional” drivers**
**Effect of commuting on risk for workplace crashes**
**Effectiveness of hours-of-service regulations for trucking**
**Effects of in-vehicle technologies and electronic devices on safety**

## NIOSH Hazard Review

**Crash data**
**Regulations**
**Special topics: distracted driving, age, fatigue**
**Safety recommendations**
**Internet and print resources**

- _[www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2003-119/pdfs/2003-119.pdf](http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2003-119/pdfs/2003-119.pdf)_
**1-800-35NIOSH**

## Fact Sheets

***Prevention Strategies for Employers***

***Who’s at Risk?***

## NIOSH Motor Vehicle Web Page

**www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/traumamv.html**

## Planning for the Second Decade of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA)

**Since 1996, NORA has provided a national framework for OSH research**
**With new NORA, research will be grouped by industry sectors**
**NIOSH is seeking input on research needs (**_[www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora](http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora)_**)**
**Subscribe to NIOSH eNews for NORA updates (**_[www.cdc.gov/niosh/enews](http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/enews)_**)**

## Questions?

**Stephanie Pratt **
**304-285-5992**
**sgp2@cdc.gov**

**www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/traumamv.html**

*The findings and conclusions in this presentation are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.*