July 5, 2004—In a letter sent June 17 to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tommy G. Thompson, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) voiced opposition to the recently announced Centers for Disease Control reorganization plans concerning the future role of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and suggested it may be time to move NIOSH from HHS to the Department of Labor.
In the letter, ASSE President James “Skipper” Kendrick, CSP, noted that ASSE’s 30,000 members work in the occupational safety, health, and environmental profession and their efforts rely greatly on a scientific foundation of occupational safety and health research that is, in large measure, led by NIOSH under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He added, “Private industry has little incentive to invest in such research on its own. If NIOSH cannot lead this effort, no one else will.”
ASSE members are concerned that under the CDC reorganization proposal, NIOSH will go from an agency reporting directly to the head of the CDC to an agency under the direction of interests that have no demonstrated commitment to occupational safety and health issues. ASSE members are also concerned that the design proposes to take away from NIOSH’s control important organizational resources that NIOSH uses to fulfill its mission, including its own marketing capabilities, its involvement in budget efforts with Congress, and its oversight of Educational Resource Centers.
ASSE feels that the organizational change would hurt the nation’s ability to protect itself from terrorist attacks, and urges this design proposal be changed now to ensure NIOSH the organizational independence that it needs to carry out its uniquely important mission.
