Full Text PAR-95-041 RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION GRANTS IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH NIH GUIDE, Volume 24, Number 11, March 24, 1995 PA NUMBER: PAR-95-041 P.T. 34, 12 Keywords: Occupational Health and Safety National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health PURPOSE The purpose of this grant program is to develop knowledge that can be used in preventing occupational diseases and injuries. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will support the following types of applied research projects: causal research to identify and investigate the relationships between hazardous working conditions and associated occupational diseases and injuries; methods research to develop more sensitive means of evaluating hazards at work sites, as well as methods for measuring early markers of adverse health effects and injuries; control research to develop new protective equipment, engineering control technology, and work practices to reduce the risks of occupational hazards; and demonstrations to evaluate the technical feasibility or application of a new or improved occupational safety and health procedure, method, technique, or system. Background Americans are now working more hours than ever before. The workplace environment profoundly affects health. Each person, simply by going to work each day, may face hazards that threaten one's health and safety. Risking a person's life or health should never be considered part of the job. In 1970, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act to ensure Americans the right to "safe and healthful working conditions," yet workplace hazards continue to inflict a tremendous toll in both human and economic costs. In 1992, employers reported 3.3 million disabling work injuries and 370,000 cases of occupational illness. According to the most current statistics an average of 17 American workers die each day from injuries on the job. Moreover, even the most conservative estimates find that about 137 additional workers die each day from workplace diseases. Medical payments under workers' compensation rose to almost $17 billion in 1991. Considering that workers' compensation is received by only 60 percent of injured workers and does not cover most cases of chronic occupational illness, medical costs alone for these conditions may total $30 to $40 billion. Occupational injury and disease creates needless human suffering, a tremendous burden upon health care resources, and an enormous drain on U.S. productivity (estimated to exceed $100 billion annually). Yet, to date, this mainstream public health problem has somehow escaped mainstream public attention. Workplace injury and disease is neither inevitable nor acceptable. The time has come to protect one of the nation's most valuable resources: the American worker. The philosophy of NIOSH is articulated in the NIOSH's vision statement: Delivering on the Nation's Promise: Safety and Health at Work for All People...Through Prevention. To identify and reduce hazardous working conditions, the NIOSH carries out disease, injury, and hazard surveillance and conducts a wide range of field and laboratory research. Additionally, NIOSH sponsors extramural research in priority areas to complement and expand its efforts. These are listed under RESEARCH OBJECTIVES. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS-led national activity to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve the quality of life. This program announcement, Research and Demonstration Grants in Occupational Safety and Health, is related to the priority area occupational safety and health. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238). ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Eligible applicants include domestic and foreign non-profit and for-profit organizations, universities, colleges, research institutions, and other public and private organizations, including State and local governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply as Principal Investigators. Exceptions: applicants for the Special Emphasis Research Career Award Grant or Small Grant programs must be citizens or persons lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence (resident alien) at the time of application and must be employed by a domestic institution. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT The types of grants NIOSH supports are described below. Applications responding to this program announcement will be reviewed by staff for their responsiveness to the following program requirements. Grants are funded for 12-month budget periods in project periods up to five years for research project grants and demonstration project grants; three years for SERCA grants; and up to two years for small grants. Continuation awards within the project period are made on the basis of satisfactory progress and on the availability of funds. 1. Research Project Grants (R01) A research project grant application should be designed to establish, discover, develop, elucidate, or confirm information relating to occupational safety and health, including innovative methods, techniques, and approaches for dealing with occupational safety and health problems. These studies may generate information that is readily available to solve problems or contribute to a better understanding of the causes of work-related diseases and injuries. 2. Demonstration Project Grants (R18) A demonstration project grant application should address, either on a pilot or full-scale basis, the technical or economic feasibility of implementing a new/improved innovative procedure, method, technique, or system for preventing occupational safety or health problems. The project should be conducted in an actual workplace where a baseline measure of the occupational problem will be defined, the new/improved approach will be implemented, a follow-up measure of the problem will be documented, and an evaluation of the benefits will be conducted. 3. Special Emphasis Research Career Award (SERCA) Grants (K01) The SERCA grant is intended to provide opportunities for individuals to acquire experience and skills essential to the study of work-related hazards, and in so doing create a pool of highly qualified investigators who can make future contributions to research in the area of occupational safety and health. SERCA grants are not intended either for individuals without research experience or for productive, independent investigators with a significant number of publications and of senior academic rank. Moreover, the award is not intended to substitute one source of salary support for another for an individual who is already conducting full-time research; nor is it intended to be a mechanism for providing institutional support. Candidates must: (1) hold a doctoral degree; (2) have research experience at or above the doctoral level; (3) not be above the rank of associate professor; (4) be employed at a domestic institution; and (5) be citizens or persons lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence (resident alien) at the time of application. This non-renewable award provides support for a three-year period for individuals engaged in full-time research and related activities. Awards will not exceed $50,000 per year in direct costs for salary support (plus fringe benefits), technical assistance, equipment, supplies, consultant costs, domestic travel, publications, and other costs. The indirect cost rate applied is limited to eight percent of the direct costs, excluding tuition and related fees and equipment expenses, or to the actual indirect cost rate, whichever results in the lesser amount. A minimum of 60 percent time must be committed to the proposed research project, although full-time is desirable. Other work in the area of occupational safety and health will enhance the candidate's qualifications, but is not a substitute for this requirement. Related activities may include research career development activities as well as involvement in patient care to the extent that it will strengthen research skills. Fundamental/basic research will not be supported unless the project will make an original contribution for applied technical knowledge in the identification, evaluation, and/or control of occupational safety and health hazards (e.g., development of a diagnostic technique for early detection of an occupational disease). Research project proposals must be of the applicants' own design and of such scope that independent investigative capability will be evident within three years. At the completion of this three-year award, it is intended that awardees should be better able to compete for individual research project grants awarded by NIOSH. SERCA grant applications should be identified as such on the application form. Section 2 of the application (the Research Plan) should include a statement regarding the applicant's career plans and how the proposed research will contribute to a career in occupational safety and health research. This section should also include a letter of recommendation from the proposed advisor(s). 4. Small Grants (R03) The small grant program is intended to stimulate proposals from individuals who are considering a research career in occupational safety and health; as such, the minimum time commitment is 10 percent. It is expected that a recipient would subsequently compete for a career development grant (K01 - see section H.3.) or for a traditional research project grant (R01 - see section H.1.) related to occupational safety and health. The award is not intended to supplement ongoing or other proposed research; nor is it intended to be a mechanism for providing institutional support. The small grant investigators must be U.S. citizens or persons lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence (resident alien) at the time of application who are predoctoral students, post-doctoral researchers (within three years following completion of doctoral degree or completion of residency or public health training), or junior faculty members (no higher than assistant professor). If university policy requires that a more senior person be listed as principal investigator, it should be clear in the application which person is the small grant investigator. Except for applicants who are assistant professors, there must be one or more named mentors to assist with the project. A biographical sketch is required for the small grant investigator, as well as for the supervisor and other key consultants, as appropriate. This non-renewable award provides support for project periods of up to two years to carry out exploratory or pilot studies, to develop or test new techniques or methods, or to analyze data previously collected. Awards will not exceed $25,000 per year in direct costs for salary support (plus fringe benefits), technical assistance, equipment, supplies, consultant costs, domestic travel, publications, and other costs. The indirect costs will be based upon the negotiated indirect cost rate of the applicant organization. An individual may not receive more than two small grant awards, and then, only if the awards are at different stages of development (e.g., doctoral student, post-doctoral researcher, or junior faculty member). FUNDS AVAILABLE For fiscal year (FY) 1995, the budget for research grants is $9,373,900. Of that amount, $5,300,000 is to support 44 non-competing continuation awards, and $4,073,900 is available for approximately 35 new and competing renewal awards, which includes $400,000 for Small Business Innovation Research grant awards. Within the $9,373,900 budget, there is emphasis for health and safety research within the construction industry, totaling $2,500,000. Of this figure, $1,850,000 is to support 10 non-competing continuation awards, and $650,000 is available for approximately six new and competing renewal awards. Grant applications should be focused on the research priorities described under RESEARCH OBJECTIVES in this announcement, which include several new research priorities. Grant applications in these new areas will compete for the available funds given above, as well as for funds announced through Requests for Applications that are anticipated in FY 1995 and FY 1996. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The NIOSH program priorities, listed below, are applicable to all of the above types of grants listed under MECHANISMS OF SUPPORT. These priority areas represent both new areas and traditional diseases and injuries related to risks on the job. NIOSH intends to support projects that facilitate progress in understanding and preventing adverse effects among workers. The conditions or examples listed under each category are selected examples, not comprehensive definitions of the category. Investigators may also apply in other areas related to occupational safety and health, but the rationale for the significance of the research to the field of occupational safety and health must be presented in the grant application. Potential applicants with questions concerning the acceptability of their proposed work are strongly encouraged to contact Dr. Roy M. Fleming at the address under INQUIRIES. New Research Priorities are: o Surveillance: The ability to identify the occurrence and emergence of work-related injury and disease is vital for prevention. While some targeted surveillance efforts address specific conditions, such as adult lead poisoning, occupational lung disease, and carpal tunnel syndrome, a national surveillance system for occupational disease and injury does not exist. To broaden current surveillance systems, it is necessary to: (1) improve hazard surveillance by developing systems that identify hazardous work conditions, rather than cases of disease or injury; (2) evaluate new disease surveillance efforts to better fill the gaps in current reporting systems; (3) explore additional surveillance methods for nonfatal injury, including workplace violence; and (4) assess the economic burden of occupational conditions and potential economic benefits of their prevention. o Work Organization: Through surveillance and research, NIOSH and others have identified many physical and chemical hazards of work. However, there is growing evidence that the way work is organized, itself, affects the health and well-being of workers, both directly and in combination with other hazards. Investigations are needed on broad aspects of employment, including underemployment, overemployment, unemployment, shift-work, alternate work schedules, and job stress. Also encompassed are special risks that may result from the ongoing evolution to a service economy; to a workforce that is increasingly comprised of women, minorities and older workers; and to conditions of employment and demands for productivity increasingly pressured by global market forces. o Control Technology and Intervention Research: NIOSH seeks to prevent work-related diseases and injuries by designing, implementing, and evaluating measures to reduce occupational hazards at their source. If prevention measures are not currently available, new technologies need to be developed for controlling hazardous exposures. Such new technologies must be evaluated to determine that the prevention measures are feasible, even for smaller businesses. Intervention research, of which control technology is a part, examines the utility and impact of new and existing preventive measures in the workplace. Assessments are needed of the effectiveness of regulations, educational efforts, government and private outreach programs, employer policies, worker training, and protective technology in preventing disease and injury. o Health Services Research: This area includes (1) assessing the adequacy of the supply of occupational safety and health professionals, including specialist or generalist physicians and nurses, industrial hygienists, safety specialists, and engineers; (2) evaluating the accessibility, availability, and delivery of occupational health services, the role of workers' compensation, and the integration of occupational health services and primary health care; (3) improving the quality of occupational health care, through clinical and preventive practice guidelines; (4) assessing the effectiveness of screening and treatment of select occupational conditions; and (5) evaluating the economics of treating and preventing occupational injuries and illnesses. Traditional research priorities are broadly intended for investigator-initiated research of emerging or reemerging issues, particularly those affecting a large number of workers. These areas include: occupational lung diseases, musculoskeletal injuries, occupational cancers (other than lung), severe occupational traumatic injuries and fatalities, cardiovascular disease, disorders of reproduction, neurotoxic disorders, noise-induced hearing loss, dermatologic conditions, and psychological disorders. INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS Applicants are required to give added attention (where feasible and appropriate) to the inclusion of minorities and/or women study populations for research into the etiology of diseases, research in behavioral and social sciences, clinical studies of treatment and treatment outcomes, research on the dynamics of health care and its impact on disease, and appropriate interventions for disease prevention and health promotion. Exceptions would be studies of diseases which exclusively affect males or where involvement of pregnant women may expose the fetus to undue risks. If minorities and/or women are not included in a given study, a clear rationale and justification for their exclusion must be provided. APPLICATION PROCEDURES The research grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 9/91) is to be used in applying for these grants. These forms are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research; from the Office of Grants Information, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, 5333 Westbard Avenue, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301/710-0267; and from the program administrator listed under INQUIRIES. The original and five copies of the PHS 398 must be submitted to the address below by the specified receipt dates also provided below. A mailing label is provided in the form PHS 398 application package. Division of Research Grants National Institutes of Health 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040 - MSC 7710 Bethesda, MD 20892-7710 Bethesda, MD 20817 (for express or courier service) The timetable for receiving applications and awarding grants is given below. This is a continuous announcement, consequently, these receipt dates will be ongoing until further notice. Research and Demonstration Project Grants: Receipt Initial Secondary Earliest Possible Date* Review Review Start Date Feb 1 Jun/Jul Sep Dec 1 Jun 1 Oct/Nov Jan Apr 1 Oct 1 Feb/Mar May Aug 1 *Deadlines for competing continuation applications or revised applications are 1 month later. SERCA and Small Grants Receipt Initial Secondary Earliest Possible Date Review Review Start Date Mar 1 Jun/Jul Aug Nov 1 Jul 1 Oct/Nov Dec Mar 1 Nov 1 Feb/Mar Apr Jul 1 Applications must be received by the above receipt dates. To guard against problems caused by carrier delays, retain a legible proof-of-mailing receipt from the carrier, dated no later than one week prior to the receipt date. If the receipt date falls on a weekend, it will be extended to Monday; if the date falls on a holiday, it will be extended to the following work day. The receipt date will be waived only in extenuating circumstances. To request such a waiver, include an explanatory letter with the signed, completed application. No request for a waiver will be considered prior to receipt of the application. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines. Applications will be reviewed for scientific and technical merit by study sections of the Division of Research Grants, NIH in accordance with the NIH peer review procedures. Following scientific-technical review, the applications will receive a second-level programmatic review by NIOSH. As part of the initial merit review, all applications will receive a written critique and undergo a process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific merit, generally the top half of applications under review, will be discussed, assigned a priority score, and those applications assigned to the NIOSH will receive a second level review by the NIOSH programmatic review committee. Review Criteria The initial (peer) review is based on scientific merit and significance of the project, competence of the proposed staff in relation to the type of research involved, feasibility of the project, likelihood of its producing meaningful results, appropriateness of the proposed project period, adequacy of the applicant's resources available for the project, and appropriateness of the budget request. Demonstration grant applications will be reviewed additionally on the basis of the following criteria: o Degree to which project objectives are clearly established, obtainable, and for which progress toward attainment can and will be measured. o Availability, adequacy, and competence of personnel, facilities, and other resources needed to carry out the project. o Degree to which the project can be expected to yield or demonstrate results that will be useful and desirable on a national or regional basis. o Documentation of cooperation from industry, unions, or other participants in the project, where applicable. SERCA grant applications will be reviewed additionally on the basis of the following criteria: o The review process will consider the applicant's scientific achievements, the applicant's research career plan in occupational safety and health, and the degree to which the applicant's institution offers a superior research environment (supportive nature, including letter(s) of reference from advisor(s) which should accompany the application). Small grant applications will be given consideration to the fact that applicants do not have extensive experience with the grant process. AWARD CRITERIA Applications will compete for available funds with all other approved applications assigned to NIOSH. The following will be considered in making funding decisions: Quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review, availability of funds, and program priority. In the secondary review, the following factors will be considered: o The results of the initial review. o The significance of the proposed study to the mission of NIOSH. (1) Relevance to occupational safety and health, by contributing to achievement of research objectives specified in Section 20(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and Section 501 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977, (2) Magnitude of the problem in terms of numbers of workers affected, (3) Severity of the disease or injury in the worker population, (4) Potential contribution to applied technical knowledge in the identification, evaluation, and/or control of occupational safety and health hazards, (5) Program balance, and (6) Policy and budgetary considerations. Questions regarding the above criteria may be addressed to Dr. Fleming at the address listed under INQUIRIES. INQUIRIES Inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify and issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Direct inquiries regarding technical or programmatic issues to: Roy M. Fleming, Sc.D. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road, NE Building 1, Room 3053, Mail Stop D-30 Atlanta, GA 30333 Telephone: (404) 639-3343 FAX: (404) 639-2196 Email: rmf2@niood1.em.cdc.gov Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Ms. Georgia Jang Grants Management Branch, PGO Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 255 E. Paces Ferry Road, NE Room 321, Mail Stop E-13 Atlanta, GA 30305 Telephone: (404) 842-6814 FAX: (404) 842-6613 Email: glj2@opspgo1.em.cdc.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93.262. This program is authorized under the Public Health Service Act, as amended, Section 301 (42 U.S.C. 241); the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Section 20 (a) (29 U.S.C. 669[a]); and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977, as amended, Section 501 (30 U.S.C. 951). The applicable program regulations are in 42 CFR Part 52. This program is not subject to the Public Health Systems Reporting Requirements. The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and to promote the nonuse of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early childhood development services are provided to children. .
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