The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established NIOSH. NIOSH is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It has the mandate to assure “every man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.” NIOSH has more than 1,300 employees from a diverse set of fields including epidemiology, medicine, nursing, industrial hygiene, safety, psychology, chemistry, statistics, economics, and many branches of engineering. NIOSH works closely with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor to protect American workers and miners.
The vision of NIOSH is to have safer, healthier workers. Its mission is to develop new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and to transfer that knowledge into practice.
Relevance—NIOSH programs are responsive to the occupational safety and health problems that burden today’s and tomorrow’s workers.
Quality—NIOSH utilizes only the best science, the highest level of data quality, and the most transparent and independent peer review.
Partnership—NIOSH accomplishes our mission in partnership with industry, workers, governments, academe, and scientific and professional communities, both nationally and internationally.
Transparency—NIOSH openly shares information about our work processes and our customers can obtain all NIOSH products and services through traditional, electronic and mobile sources.
Impact—NIOSH programs are results-oriented and are evaluated by how well they solve the occupational safety and health problems found in today's workplaces and the workplaces of tomorrow.
Diversity—NIOSH employees and contractors reflect the full spectrum of diversity found in the American workforce and our research and interventions reflect the diversity of solutions needed for the American workplace.
