Brown urges Senate appropriators to increase funding for NIOSH facilities
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined his Senate colleagues in calling on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (L-HHS) to increase funding for the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) to $341 million – the amount passed by the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on L-HHS.
This funding would include $28.5 million for its Education and Research Centers (ERCs), like the University of Cincinnati ERC, and $27 million for the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program (AFF).
“Millions of American workers benefit from the health and safety procedures developed at NIOSH Education and Resource Centers,” Brown said. “Increasing funding for these critical NIOSH programs will help ensure that facilities like the University of Cincinnati Education and Research Center can continue to train the next generation of occupational safety and health professionals.”
As part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NIOSH is responsible for conducting research and making recommendations to prevent work-related injury and illness. NIOSH provides leadership to avert workplace illness, injury, disability and death and supports programs to improve the health and safety of workers. Through 18 university-based ERCs in 17 states, NIOSH trains thousands of occupational safety and health professionals to minimize the dangers faced by workers. The University of Cincinnati ERC educates high quality professionals in four disciplines: occupational health nursing, occupational medicine, occupational hygiene and occupational safety and health engineering.
Brown continues to support NIOSH, its workers, and the University of Cincinnati ERC. In March, Brown first wrote to the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of funding for the ERCs and the AFF program. Today’s letter serves as a follow-up to that request. In addition, after touring the NIOSH facility last year, Brown pressed the Obama Administration for construction funds to help consolidate NIOSH’s Cincinnati research facilities into one central location to improve and enhance scientific collaboration.
The full letter can be found below.
November 9, 2015
Chairman Roy Blunt
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Labor, HHS, Education
Washington, DC 20510
Ranking Member Patty Murray
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on
Labor, HHS, Education
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Blunt and Ranking Member Murray:
We are writing respectfully request that during upcoming budget negotiations on the Fiscal Year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations that you include the House level of $341 million for the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH), and that within that amount include the House level of $28.5 million for the Education and Research Centers (ERCs) and $27 million for the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program (AFF). NIOSH supports 18 university-based Education and Research Centers in 17 states, as well as nine regional Centers for Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education, and Prevention, and a National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety.
Annually, over 3 million workers are seriously injured on the job. Daily, 12 workers die from an injury suffered at work, and 145 people die from work-related diseases. The mission of the ERCs is to reduce these work-related injuries through research and training and programs to improve occupational health and safety. Collectively, the ERCs provide training and research resources to every Public Health Region in the United States.
Workers in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries are up to 32 times more likely to die on the job than workers in other industries and the annual cost of agricultural occupational injuries has been estimated to exceed $24 billion in direct and indirect dollars. The AFF Program serves as a resource for agricultural safety and health and works closely with major agricultural industries, including the forestry and fishing sectors, to understand related health risks, develop and evaluate interventions, and build capacity to address health and safety needs of agricultural businesses. The NIOSH AFF program aims to protect vulnerable workers in this sector in addition to providing leadership in applied research, disease and injury surveillance, education, and prevention. The AFF program is the only substantive federal program working to ensure safe working conditions for 5.5 million workers in some of our Nation’s most dangerous and important production sectors.
We urge you to recognizing the important contribution of NIOSH, including the ERCs and the AFF Program, to the health and productivity of our nation’s workforce by including the House funding level for these programs in any upcoming negotiations on the FY 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations.