全球智库信息集成服务系统

The Center Could Contribute in a Range of Areas

• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) can be a centralized resource of prevention and surveillance best practices.
• NIOSH can help make state-level differences in workers' compensation (WC) systems comprehensible across state lines.
• The NIOSH Center for Workers' Compensation Studies (CWCS) can conduct and support research on best practices, translation, and evaluation of microlevel interventions.
• CWCS could invest in research on interventions in occupational health services and outcomes.
• The primary- and disability-prevention effects of the WC system warrant NIOSH attention because creating incentives for safety is a stated goal of many WC systems.
• Prevention effects of Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforcement can and should be evaluated using WC data.
• Entities other than NIOSH might not have strong incentives to invest in foundational research on how to use WC data well.
• CWCS can conduct surveillance with WC data that adds value and fills gaps left by other existing injury surveillance and research data systems.

The Institute Can Make Better Use of Workers' Compensation Data

• NIOSH is the only source of federal research funding for primary prevention of workplace injuries and illnesses. Because its resources are limited, some say that it should direct them toward primary prevention.
• Others argue that secondary and tertiary prevention warrants more attention and investment from NIOSH because it should invest resources where they can most effectively reduce the total burden of workplace injury and illness.