Big EMS Gains Contributed by r2p Winners
NIOSH announced its big annual awards recently, giving a highly coveted one -- the James P. Keogh Award for Outstanding Service in Occupational Safety and Health -- to its recent director, Dr. John Howard. This award honors current or former NIOSH employees who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the field, and Howard, M.D., MPH, JD, LLM, certainly has done that.
The Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice (r2p) Awards recognize research that makes an impact in the real world, and this year's winners and honorable mentions have been especially helpful to emergency responders, OSH professionals in general, and underground miners.
Five researchers in NIOSH's Division of Safety Research won in the Interventions Category for a project to improve ambulance crash survivability, specifically involving cabinets immediately above the head of an EMS worker. Their research helped to change purchase specifications and testing standards for all ambulances contracted for and manufactured in the United States from Aug. 1, 2007. The honorable mention went to two people from the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory who recommended new criteria and test methods for protective clothing worn by EMS workers during medical operations.
Four employees from the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory won in the Technology Category for their work on an enclosure to reduce the noise of roof bolting drills, which are a major cause of noise-induced hearing loss for miners underground, according to NIOSH.
In the Knowledge Category, 10 workers from the Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies developed an MBA course, "Business Value of Safety and Health," in collaboration with Xavier University's Williams College of Business in Cincinnati. Another 10 staffers from the Division of Safety Research did work that helped manufacturers of fall protection and aerial lifts design better profective equipment for workers using the lifts.
Details about the MBA course and the other projects and award honorees are available at
this site.