National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury, illness, disability, and death. Its functions include gathering information, conducting scientific research both in the laboratory and in the field, and translating the knowledge gained into products and services. Among NIOSH's programs are determination of recommended exposure limits for toxic chemicals and other hazards, field research such as the Health Hazard Evaluation Program, epidemiology and health surveillance programs such as the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer, regulatory approval of respirators according to the NIOSH air filtration rating system, and compensation and support programs such as the World Trade Center Health Program.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon on December 29, 1970, created NIOSH out of the preexisting Division of Industrial Hygiene founded in 1914. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the Department of Health and Human Services. Despite the similarities in names, it is not part of the National Institutes of Health or OSHA, which have distinct and separate responsibilities.
NIOSH is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with research laboratories and offices in Cincinnati, Morgantown, Pittsburgh, Denver, Anchorage, Spokane, and Atlanta. NIOSH is a professionally diverse organization with a staff of 1,200 people representing a wide range of disciplines including occupational epidemiology, occupational toxicology, medicine, industrial hygiene, safety, research psychology, engineering, chemistry, and statistics.
As part of the announced 2025 HHS reorganization, a small piece of NIOSH is planned to be integrated into the new Administration for a Healthy America. On April 1, 93% of NIOSH's staff was told they were being fired. This most strongly impacted its mining safety research and respirator approval programs, with its laboratory in Spokane, Washington, and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh expected to close completely, as well as the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer. Operations at the Morgantown, West Virginia, campus also ceased on April 1 as staff were placed on leave and instructed to leave the building, ending its research into emerging threats to workers. The cuts included all staff of the Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program which offered free health care for coal workers, including a mobile x-ray van that screened workers for signs of black lung disease.
Authority
Unlike its counterpart, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, NIOSH's authority under the Occupational Safety and Health Act is to "develop recommendations for health and safety standards", to "develop information on safe levels of exposure to toxic materials and harmful physical agents and substances", and to "conduct research on new safety and health problems". NIOSH may also "conduct on-site investigations to determine the toxicity of materials used in workplaces" and "fund research by other agencies or private organizations through grants, contracts, and other arrangements".Also, pursuant to its authority granted to it by the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, NIOSH may "develop recommendations for mine health standards for the Mine Safety and Health Administration", "administer a medical surveillance program for miners, including chest X‑rays to detect pneumoconiosis in coal miners", "conduct on-site investigations in mines similar to those authorized for general industry under the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and "test and certify personal protective equipment and hazard-measurement instruments".
Under, NIOSH has the right to issue and revoke certifications for respirators, such as the N95. Currently, NIOSH is the only body authorized to regulate respirators, and has trademark rights to the NIOSH air filtration ratings.
Programs
Major guidance publications
NIOSH determines recommended exposure limits and immediately dangerous to life or health levels for toxic chemicals and other hazards, which are published in various types of publications.Criteria Documents contain recommendations for the prevention of occupational diseases and injuries. These documents are submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or the Mine Safety and Health Administration for consideration in their formulation of legally binding safety and health standards.
Current Intelligence Bulletins analyze new information about occupational health and safety hazards.
The contains recommended standard methods for collection, sampling and analysis of contaminants in the workplace and industrial hygiene samples, including air filters, biological fluids, wipes and bulks for occupationally relevant analytes.
The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards informs workers, employers, and occupational health professionals about workplace chemicals and their hazards.
Field studies
NIOSH conducts field research through a number of programs:- The Health Hazard Evaluation Program allows employees, employers, and labor unions can request assistance from the HHE program at no cost to them.
- The Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program publishes occupational fatality data that are used to publish fatality reports by specific sectors of industry and types of fatal incidents.
- The Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program investigates specifically the causes of firefighter deaths on the job.
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
The laboratory conducts research and provides recommendations for other types of PPE, including protective clothing, gloves, eye protection, headwear, hearing protection, chemical sensors, and communication devices for safe deployment of emergency workers. It also maintains certification for N95 respirators, and hosts an annual education day for N95 education. Its emergency response research is part of a collaboration with the National Fire Protection Association.
In the 2010s, the NPPTL has focused on pandemic influenza preparedness, CBRNE incidents, miner PPE, and nanotechnology.
NIOSH Certified Equipment List
NPPTL is the designated publisher of the NIOSH Certified Equipment List, or CEL. The CEL is a public domain database that details the respirators currently approved by NIOSH, and is ordered separated based on type of respirator, which is designated with a schedule. The CEL was initially released in paper form on September 30, 1993. However, due to low usage of the paper CEL, as well as the increasing number of respirators approved by NIOSH, a Microsoft Access-based version of the CEL was released. Initial releases of the CEL had hose and pressure information for air-line respirators. This information had been eliminated due to concerns over users prioritizing the CEL over respirator documentation.Mining safety research
NIOSH's two mining safety research divisions are devoted towards the elimination of mining fatalities, injuries, and illnesses through research and prevention. Mining research done by NIOSH is primarily focused in two locations: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Spokane, Washington. The Pittsburgh site focuses on a larger scope of mine safety and health issues, including dust monitoring and control, mine ventilation, hearing loss prevention and engineering noise controls, diesel particulate monitoring and control, emergency response and rescue, firefighting and prevention, training research, ergonomics and machine safety, mine ground control, electrical safety, explosives safety, surveillance, and technology transfer. The Spokane site primarily focuses on metal and nonmetal mining.This was originally conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, which was founded in 1910. Following the dissolution of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1995–1996, its Safety and Health Program was transferred to the Department of Energy on an interim basis. In 1997, it was permanently transferred to NIOSH as the Office of Mine Safety and Health Research. In 2015, it was administratively divided into two divisions by location, the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division and the Spokane Mining Research Division.
Compensation and support
NIOSH administers the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides medical benefits to specific groups of individuals who were affected by the September 11 attacks in 2001 against the United States. The WTC Health Program was established by Title I of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act in 2011.Separately, for some claims for cancers that may have been caused by occupational radiation exposure filed under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, NIOSH's Division of Compensation Analysis and Support performs a radiation dose reconstruction. NIOSH requests the energy employee's individual exposure records, and interviews the claimant or survivors, and collects all relevant data regarding the individual's work site.