Intervention Studies for Construction Safety and Health; Availability of Funds for Fiscal Year 1997

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Announcement Number 722]

Intervention Studies for Construction Safety and Health;

Availability of Funds for Fiscal Year 1997

Introduction

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), announces that

applications are being accepted for intervention projects relating to

occupational safety and health in the construction industry. Such

projects are intended to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of

methods or approaches for preventing illnesses and injuries among

construction workers. Thus, this announcement is not intended for

traditional hypothesis-testing research projects to identify and

investigate the relationships between health outcomes and occupational

exposures to hazardous agents.

CDC is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease

prevention objectives of ``Healthy People 2000,'' a national activity

to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve the quality of life. This

announcement is related to the priority area of ``Occupational Safety

and Health.'' (For ordering a copy of ``Healthy People 2000,'' see the

section

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WHERE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.)

Authority

This program is authorized under the Public Health Service Act, as

amended, Section 301(a) (42 U.S.C. 241(a)) and the Occupational Safety

and Health Act of 1970, Section 20(a) (29 U.S.C. 669(a)). The

applicable program regulation is 42 CFR part 52.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants include non-profit and for-profit

organizations, universities, colleges, research institutions, and other

public and private organizations, including State and local governments

and small, minority and/or woman-owned businesses.

Note: An organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which engages in lobbying activities

shall not be eligible to receive Federal funds constituting an

award, grant, contract, loan, or any other form.

Smoke-Free Workplace

CDC strongly encourages all grant recipients to provide a smoke-

free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products, and

Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in

certain facilities that receive Federal funds in which education,

library, day care, health care, and early childhood development

services are provided to children.

Avalibility of Funds

About $500,000 is available in fiscal year (FY) 1997 to fund

approximately 3 project grants. The amount of funding available may

vary and is subject to change. Awards are anticipated to range from

$150,000 to $200,000 in total costs (direct and indirect) per year.

Awards are expected to begin on or about September 30, 1997. Awards

will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project period not

to exceed 3 years. Continuation awards within the project period will

be made on the basis of satisfactory progress and availability of

funds.

Background

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported five million employees in

the construction sector in 1994 (Undercounting in this sector may be

significant because of self-employment). The construction industry is

considered one of the most hazardous industries in the nation. For

example, there were only 3.3 deaths per 100,000 construction workers in

the Netherlands in 1992 compared to 14 deaths per 100,000 construction

workers in the United States. More fatalities occur in the construction

industry than in any other industry. The construction industry also

experiences a higher incidence rate of nonfatal injuries and illnesses

than workers in other industries. These injuries and illnesses can also

contribute to project delays and lost productivity.

Some construction groups are able to achieve substantially lower

injury rates than the national average, which may be the result of

interventions that are not widely known. The lost-time injury rate of

the National Constructors Association, which consists of several large

construction contractors in the United States, was less than 1 per 100

full-time workers in 1993 compared to the national average in

construction of 5.1 per 100 full-time workers in 1993. In addition, the

average lost-time injury rate from 1988 to 1994 for Army Corps of

Engineers construction projects was also less than 1 per 100 full-time

workers. The average workers' compensation insurance premiums for all

workplaces are 2.4% of payrolls. In contrast, workers' compensation

insurance premiums in construction workplaces range upwards to over

100% of payrolls such as in very hazardous iron work at high

elevations. All of these problems are influenced by the complexity of

the construction work place: Multiemployer work sites, a mobile

workforce (multiple employers each year), a continually changing work

site for each worker in both location and the kind of work, episodic

and potentially high exposures, and work in inclement weather.

For the purposes of this announcement, NIOSH has placed a priority

on intervention and control technology research in the construction

industry. NIOSH is encouraging intervention research to assess the

effectiveness of policies, regulations, education and training,

government and private outreach programs, and new technology in

preventing disease and injury. Control technology research, a form of

intervention research, seeks to prevent work-related diseases and

injuries by designing, implementing, and evaluating measures to reduce

occupational hazards at their source. In reviewing its National Program

for Occupational Safety and Health in Construction, NIOSH has found

that solutions to problems often exist (tools, technology, and best

safety practices), but they are not adopted at the work place.

Effective interventions can lead to reduced injury and death rates.

Purpose

NIOSH seeks to prevent work-related diseases and injuries in the

construction industry by designing, implementing, and evaluating

measures to reduce occupational hazards. If prevention measures are not

currently available, new technologies should be developed for

controlling hazardous exposures. Such new technologies must be

evaluated to determine that the prevention measures are feasible, even

for smaller businesses. Intervention research, of which control

technology is a part, examines the utility and impact of new and

existing preventive measures in the workplace.

Programmatic Interest

The focus of these grants is to facilitate progress in preventing

adverse effects among construction workers. A project that is proposed

to develop or test the efficacy of an intervention should be designed

to establish, discover, develop, elucidate, or confirm information

relating to occupational safety and health, including innovative

methods, techniques, and approaches for solving occupational safety and

health problems. A project that is proposed to demonstrate the

effectiveness of an intervention should address, either on a pilot or

full-scale basis, the technical or economic feasibility of implementing

a new/improved innovative procedure, method, technique, or system for

preventing occupational safety or health problems. A demonstration

project should be conducted in an actual workplace where a baseline

measure of the occupational problem will be defined, the new/improved

approach will be implemented, a follow-up measure of the problem will

be documented, and an evaluation of the benefits will be conducted.

The overall NIOSH program priorities, including those related to

the construction industry, were developed by NIOSH with input from its

partners in the public and private sectors to provide a framework to

guide occupational safety and health research in the next decade--not

only for NIOSH but also for the entire occupational safety and health

community. Approximately 500 organizations and individuals outside

NIOSH provided input into the development of the National Occupational

Research Agenda (NORA). This attempt to guide and coordinate research

nationally is responsive to a broadly perceived need to address

systematically those topics that are most pressing and most likely to

yield gains to the worker and the

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nation. Fiscal constraints on occupational safety and health research

are increasing, making even more compelling the need for a coordinated

and focused research agenda. NIOSH intends to support projects that

facilitate progress in understanding and preventing adverse effects

among workers.

The Agenda identifies 21 research priorities. These priorities

reflect a remarkable degree of concurrence among a large number of

stakeholders. The NORA priority research areas are grouped into three

categories: Disease and Injury, Work Environment and Workforce, and

Research Tools and Approaches. The NORA document is available through

the NIOSH Home Page; http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora.html.

Consistent with NORA, the following are high priority directions

for research under this announcement. Investigators may also apply in

other areas related to construction safety and health, but the

rationale for the significance of the research and demonstrations to

construction must be developed in the application.

1. Understand how economic issues impact the acceptance of best

safety practices.

2. Understand the aspects of changing the safety culture in

organizations, including residential and other small contractors.

3. Improve the health and safety aspects of construction tools and

of general technology development/utilization.

4. Identify effective ways to obtain information and conduct

research on non-union workers and contractors.

5. Identify training techniques that are effective in causing safe

work practices to be adopted.

6. Investigate mechanisms that lead to nongovernmental support/

funding for regional training and safety and health services.

7. Investigate new concepts for job-site improvement (such as

scheduling of deliveries, material location and transport in vehicular

worker traffic patterns, etc.).

8. Identify causes of dramatic differences in regional injury rates

for both small and large firms, as well as union and non-union

operations.

9. Select focus areas that will be of perceived immediate benefit

to the customers. (Based upon achievable benchmarks in construction

safety and health, the NIOSH program priorities applicable to this

Program Announcement are to reduce construction-related deaths, lost-

time injuries and illnesses, back injuries, eye injuries, skin

disorders or diseases, lead poisonings, hearing loss, silicosis, and

asbestosis.)

Potential applicants with questions concerning the acceptability of

their proposed work are strongly encouraged to contact the programmatic

technical assistance contact listed in this announcement in the section

WHERE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Reporting Requirements

Progress reports are required annually as part of the continuation

application (75 days prior to the start of the next budget period). The

annual progress reports must contain information on accomplishments

during the previous budget period and plans for each remaining year of

the project. Financial status reports (FSR) are required no later than

90 days after the end of the budget period. The final performance and

financial status reports are required 90 days after the end of the

project period. The final performance report should include, at a

minimum, a statement of original objectives, a summary of research

methodology, a summary of positive and negative findings, and a list of

publications resulting from the project. Research papers, project

reports, or theses are acceptable items to include in the final report.

The final report should stand alone rather than citing the original

application. Three copies of reprints of publications prepared under

the grant should accompany the report.

Evaluation Criteria

Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed by CDC for completeness

and responsiveness. Applications determined to be incomplete or

unresponsive to this announcement will be returned to the applicant

without further consideration. If the proposed project involves

organizations or persons other than those affiliated with the applicant

organization, letters of support and/or cooperation must be included.

Applications that are complete and responsive to the announcement

will be reviewed by an initial review group in which applications will

be determined to be competitive or non-competitive based on their

technical merit relative to other applications received. Applications

determined to be non-competitive will be withdrawn from further

consideration and the principal investigator/program director and the

official signing for the applicant organization will be promptly

notified. Applications judged to be competitive will be discussed and

assigned a priority score.

Review criteria for technical merit are as follows:

1. Technical significance and originality of proposed project.

2. Appropriateness and adequacy of the study design and methodology

proposed to carry out the project.

3. Qualifications and research experience of the Principal

Investigator and staff, particularly but not exclusively in the area of

the proposed project.

4. Availability of resources necessary to perform the project.

5. Documentation of cooperation from industry, unions, or other

participants in the project, where applicable.

6. Adequacy of plans to include both sexes and minorities and their

subgroups as appropriate for the scientific goals of the project (Plans

for the recruitment and retention of subjects will also be evaluated.).

7. Appropriateness of budget and period of support.

8. Human Subjects--Procedures adequate for the protection of human

subjects must be documented. Recommendations on the adequacy of

protections include: (1) Protections appear adequate and there are no

comments to make or concerns to raise, (2) protections appear adequate,

but there are comments regarding the protocol, (3) protections appear

inadequate and the Objective Review Group (ORG) has concerns related to

human subjects, or (4) disapproval of the application is recommended

because the research risks are sufficiently serious and protection

against the risks are inadequate as to make the entire application

unacceptable.

Secondary review criteria for programmatic importance are as

follows:

1. Results of the initial review.

2. Magnitude of the problem in terms of numbers of workers

affected.

3. Severity of the disease or injury in the worker population.

4. Usefulness to applied technical knowledge in the evaluation, or

control of construction safety and health hazards.

5. Degree to which the project can be expected to yield or

demonstrate results that will be useful on a national or regional

basis.

Applicants will compete for available funds with all other approved

applications. The following will be considered in making funding

decisions:

1. Quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review.

2. Availability of funds.

3. Program balance among priority areas of the announcement.

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Executive Order 12372 Review

Applications are not subject to the review requirements of

Executive Order 12372, entitled Intergovernmental Review of Federal

Programs.

Public Health System Reporting Requirement

This program is not subject to the Public Health System Reporting

Requirements.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is 93.262.

Other Requirements

Human Subjects

The applicant must comply with the Department of Health and Human

Services Regulations, 45 CFR part 46, regarding the protection of human

subjects. Assurances must be provided to demonstrate that the project

will be subject to initial and continuing review by an appropriate

institutional review committee. The applicant will be responsible for

providing assurance in accordance with the appropriate guidelines and

form provided in the application kit.

Women and Racial and Ethnic Minorities

It is the policy of the CDC to ensure that women and racial and

ethnic groups will be included in CDC supported research projects

involving human subjects, whenever feasible and appropriate. Racial and

ethnic groups are those defined in OMB Directive No. 15 and include

American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian, Pacific Islander, Black and

Hispanic. Applicants shall ensure that women and racial and ethnic

minority populations are appropriately represented in applications for

research involving human subjects. Where clear and compelling rationale

exist that inclusion is not feasible, this situation must be explained

as part of the application. In conducting the review of applications

for scientific merit, review groups will evaluate proposed plans for

inclusion of minorities and both sexes as part of the scientific

assessment and assigned score. This policy does not apply to research

studies when the investigator cannot control the race, ethnicity and/or

sex of subjects. Further guidance to this policy is contained in the

Federal Register, Vol. 60, No. 179, Friday, September 15, 1995, pages

47947-47951.

Application Submission and Deadlines

A. Preapplication Letter of Intent

Although not a prerequisite of application, a non-binding letter of

intent-to-apply is requested from potential applicants. The letter

should be submitted to the Grants Management Officer (whose address is

reflected in section B, ``Applications''). It should be postmarked no

later than March 14, 1997. The letter should identify the announcement

number, name of principal investigator, and specify the priority area

to be addressed by the proposed project. The letter of intent does not

influence review or funding decisions, but it will enable CDC to plan

the review more efficiently, and will ensure that each applicant

receives timely and relevant information prior to application

submission.

B. Applications

Applicants should use Form PHS-398 (OMB Number 0925-0001) and

adhere to the ERRATA Instruction Sheet for Form PHS-398 contained in

the grant application kit. Please submit an original and five copies on

or before May 14, 1997 to: Ron Van Duyne, Grants Management Officer,

Grants Management Branch, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), 255 East Paces Ferry Road, NE.,

Room 321, MS-E13, Atlanta, GA 30305.

C. Deadlines

1. Applications shall be considered as meeting a deadline if they

are either:

A. Received at the above address on or before the deadline date, or

B. Sent on or before the deadline date to the above address, and

received in time for the review process. Applicants should request a

legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark or obtain a legibly dated

receipt from a commercial carrier or the U.S. Postal Service. Private

metered postmarks shall not be accepted as proof of timely mailings.

2. Applications which do not meet the criteria above are considered

late applications and will be returned to the applicant.

Where To Obtain Additional Information

To receive additional written information call (404) 332-4561. You

will be asked your name, address, and telephone number and will need to

refer to Announcement 722. You will receive a complete program

description, information on application procedures, and application

forms. In addition, this announcement is also available through the CDC

Home Page on the Internet. The address for the CDC Home Page is http://

www.cdc.gov. If you have questions after reviewing the contents of all

the documents, business management technical assistance may be obtained

from Georgia Jang, Grants Management Specialist, Grants Management

Branch, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), 255 East Paces Ferry Road, NE., MS-E13, Atlanta, GA

30305, telephone (404) 842-6796; fax: 404-842-6513; internet:

[email protected]. Programmatic technical assistance may be obtained from

Roy M. Fleming, Sc.D., Associate Director for Grants, National

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC), 1600 Clifton Road, NE., Building 1, Room

3053, MS-D30, Atlanta, GA 30333, telephone 404-639-3343; fax: 404-639-

4616; internet: [email protected].

Please Refer to Announcement Number 722 When Requesting Information

and Submitting an Application.

Potential applicants may obtain a copy of ``Healthy People 2000''

(Full Report, Stock No. 017-001-00474-0) or ``Healthy People 2000''

(Summary Report, Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent

of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325,

telephone (202) 512-1800.

Dated: February 11, 1997.

Diane D. Porter,

Acting Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

[FR Doc. 97-3909 Filed 2-14-97; 8:45 am]

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