NIOSH Science and Service Awards: Agency honors scientists, researchers

Washington — NIOSH recently recognized multiple individuals, teams and publications as recipients of the agency’s 2022 Science and Service Awards for significant contributions to occupational safety and health.

Researcher Alan Echt was honored with the James P. Keogh Award, which spotlights a current or former NIOSH employee whose career “exhibits respect and compassion for individual workers with tireless leadership, courage and a fierce determination to put knowledge into practice to enhance their well-being.”

An awards program states that Echt “engaged in many difficult and exceptionally challenging research projects to address scientific problems” related to OSH. His research included mitigating worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica in the construction industry. In one instance, he led NIOSH efforts to evaluate new tools and technologies used in tuckpointing, or repointing – the act of using grinders to remove and replace damaged mortar, which is linked to a markedly higher risk of worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica. The research produced alternatives to the use of grinders while limiting worker exposure to silica.

Three projects were recognized for outstanding contributions in knowledge, intervention and technology as recipients of the Bullard-Sherwood Research-to-Practice Award. Respectively, the winning projects introduced engineering guidelines for shale gas wells influenced by longwall mining, guidance for preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders and engineering controls for additive manufacturing/3D printing.

The Alice Hamilton Awards, recognizing scientific excellence of technical and instructional materials by NIOSH scientists and engineers, were awarded to published studies that explored job stress, decontaminating filtering facepiece respirators and hearing hazards associated with industrial noise exposure.

Highlighted for excellence in administrative and managerial support of NIOSH, Service Excellence Award winners are:

• Lewis Underwood, Office of the Director (Excellence in Administration)
• Andrea Steege, Division of Field Studies and Engineering (Excellence in Leadership)
• Jennica Bellanca, Pittsburgh Mining Research Division (Excellence in Leadership)
• Kellie Pierson, Office of the Director (Excellence in Workforce Development)
• The NIOSH blueprint for action transition team and blueprint in action network (Excellence n Workforce Diversity)