NORA Conference to Highlight Workplace Safety 'Ideas, Partnerships'
"NORA Symposium 2008: Public Market for Ideas and Partnerships," a national summit conference of occupational safety and health research, will convene July 29 in Denver. The event will survey accomplishments under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), which entered its second decade in 2006, and will provide opportunities for developing new research initiatives, partnerships, and research to practice (r2p) collaborations.
Highlights of conference will include:
- Presentations and poster sessions about innovative tools and approaches for reducing occupational injuries and illnesses in small businesses, law enforcement, agriculture, emergency response, healthcare, construction, and other vital sectors of the economy. Several products from research under NORA have already been moved into actual use by safety and health practitioners in the workplace through research to practice (r2p) partnerships between NIOSH and other institutions, organizations, and agencies.
- Breakout sessions to stimulate research partnerships in the oil and gas extraction industry and other industry sectors (agriculture, forestry, and fishing; construction; health care and social assistance; manufacturing; mining; services; transportation, warehousing and utilities; and wholesale and retail trade).
- Presentation of NORA 2008 Awards for Innovative Research and Partnering.
- An online "virtual symposium" in which posters submitted for this purpose will be available on the internet for wider and more extended discussion in the two weeks following the conference.
The conference will be held at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel. Information on registration, lodging, and a preliminary agenda can be found at www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/symp08/default.html.
NORA is a collaborative strategy by government, industry, labor, academia, and others for designing and supporting innovative research to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths. NORA also offers a vehicle for moving the products of innovative research into the hands of practitioners for actual application and use in the workplace.