NIOSH establishes workers’ comp studies center

Washington – NIOSH has formed a new center designed to help coordinate occupational safety and health research and organize workers’ compensation data.

The Center for Workers’ Compensation Studies will help organize analyses by existing NIOSH researchers from a variety of programs, including the institute’s Economics Program and Center for Motor Vehicle Safety.

The new center also aims to encourage collaboration among NIOSH scientists and private- and public-sector organizations on reaching surveillance and research goals, which include identifying work-related injury and illness trends, integrating workers’ comp data with other health-related data, and identifying ways to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses.

“This is important because coordinated workers’ compensation research has been conducted mostly at large commercial insurers, state-based insurers or industry organizations, which have not always distributed their data or research findings widely,” NIOSH Director John Howard said June 2 when announcing the center.