and Human Services (HHS)
EXPIRED
EXTENDED WORK SCHEDULES IN THE NEW ECONOMY: HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS TO WORKERS Release Date: February 2, 2001 RFA: RFA-OH-01-006 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Letter of Intent Receipt Date: March 1, 2001 Application Receipt Date: April 18, 2001 THIS RFA USES THE DETAILED BUDGET FORMAT, RATHER THAN MODULAR GRANT BUDGET FORMAT. PURPOSE The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the availability of fiscal year (FY) 2001 funds for grant applications to support research on the relationships between overtime, long hours of work, or demanding work schedules and risks to worker safety or health. Studies on the impact of work schedule re-design on the occurrence of traumatic injuries, musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases, and workplace stress are also appropriate. The research needs identified in this announcement are consistent with the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) developed by NIOSH and partners in the public and private sectors to provide a framework to guide occupational safety and health research in the new millennium towards topics which are most pressing and most likely to yield gains to the worker and the nation. The agenda identifies 21 research priorities. NORA priorities with specific relevance to this announcement are: Organization of Work and Traumatic Injuries. Information about NORA is available through the NIOSH Home Page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/norhmpg.html. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2010 CDC is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of Healthy People 2010, a national activity to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve the quality of life. This announcement is related to the focus area of Occupational Safety and Health. For a copy of AHealthy People 2010"(Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00547-9), write or call: Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. 20402-9325, telephone (202) 512-1800 or visit the internet site: http://www.health.gov/healthypeople. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applications may be submitted by domestic and foreign, public and private nonprofit and for-profit organizations and by governments and their agencies, that is, universities, colleges, research institutions, hospitals, other public and private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, State and local governments or their bona fide agents, federally recognized Indian tribal governments, Indian tribes, or Indian tribal organizations, and small, minority, and women-owned businesses that meet the above criteria. Racial/ethnic minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply as Principal Investigators. Note: Public Law 104-65 states that an organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which engages in lobbying activities is not eligible to receive Federal funds constituting an award, grant (cooperative agreement), contract, loan, or any other form. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT The mechanism of support will be the individual research project grant (R01). Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed project will be solely that of the applicant. The total requested project period for an application submitted in response to this RFA may not exceed four (4) years. This RFA is a one-time solicitation. FUNDS AVAILABLE Approximately $1,000,000 is available in FY 2001 to fund 4-5 awards under this RFA. The maximum amount that may be requested is $250,000 total cost (direct plus facilities and administration) per year. Awards are expected to begin September 1, 2001. Awards will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project period up to four(4) years. Continuation awards within the project period will be made on the basis of satisfactory progress and availability of funds in future years. Use of Funds Applicants should include funds in their overall budget request for one trip per year for an annual meeting of grantees to be held in Washington, D.C. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Background Anecdotal information suggests that routine long work weeks (i.e. working more than 40 hours per week) have increased dramatically throughout the 1990"s because of low unemployment, reductions in staffing levels, increased competition, deregulation, just-in-time manufacturing, and transactions across multiple time zones. A limited number of studies suggests that extended hours of work may contribute to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, poor psychological health, increased accident rates, back pain and injuries, hospital outbreaks of bacterial infection, or nuclear power plant safety compromises. Across occupations or industries, however, overtime use (to include both long work weeks, over 40 hours, and extended work days, over 8 hours) is poorly documented. There is not well established population-based data for the health and safety impact, if any, on workers with such schedules. The rapid changes in the economy are having a significant impact on the organization of work, and it is important that information be developed on the health and safety impact of these changes. Furthermore, factors which could compound the effects of overtime, such as workload, noise, chemical exposure, or duties and responsibilities outside of the workplace, have been the subject of few studies. Consequently, there is a need to know which occupations and industries currently use overtime extensively, what are the health and safety risks of such practices, and how do such schedules affect the general well- being of workers. Knowledge of how extended work periods might interact with other workplace factors to affect worker safety and health through increased risks of injury or social-behavioral effects is also needed. Finally, there have been a number of work schedule re-designs to accommodate the new economy, but there is little information on the impact of re-designed work schedules on worker injuries and health. Critical data on health and safety and efficiency are lacking on which types of work schedules may best accommodate the new work environment. Research Goals This RFA provides support for research projects that investigate the relationships between overtime (to include both long work weeks and extended work days) and worker health and safety. Studies are encouraged that employ quantitative exposure assessment methodologies, allow differentiation in overtime use, allow estimation of overtime use in various industries, and control for other risk factors, such as existing medical conditions and lifestyle factors. Studies are needed that demonstrate the relationship, if any, between overtime use and worker health and safety. Studies of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) human safety and health consequences associated with overtime (this includes routine long hours of work and traditional extended work days), (2) the relationship between overtime and other demanding working schedules such as night and rotating shift work on worker health and safety, and (3) studies of re- designed work schedules that may avoid untoward consequences of overtime and shift work schedules. Studies are needed that (1) examine the relationship between long overtime use among the various industries or occupations and worker health, (2) evaluate the contribution, if any, between overtime use and worker health or safety particularly injury risk, (3) assess the interaction of overtime use with organizational or job factors (e.g. high workloads, physical versus mental work, increased time pressure/work pacing, night or rotating shifts, staffing levels, environmental exposures, emergency contingencies, rest breaks, commuting time, and competing responsibilities) on worker health and safety, (4) determine the economic impact of lost work time and compensation costs that may result from health and safety injuries associated with overtime, and (5) examine the potential negative effects away from the job such as motor vehicle crashes related to fatigue, stress on social and family relations, or increased demands for dual-earner couples. HUMAN SUBJECTS REQUIREMENTS If a project involves research on human subjects, assurance (in accordance with Department of Health and Human Services Regulations, 45 CFR Part 46) of the protection of human subjects is required. In addition to other applicable committees, Indian Health Service (IHS) institutional review committees also must review the project if any component of IHS will be involved with or will support the research. If any American Indian community is involved, its tribal government must also approve that portion of the project applicable to it. Unless the grantee holds a Multiple Project Assurance, a Single Project Assurance is required, as well as an assurance for each subcontractor or cooperating institution that has immediate responsibility for human subjects. The Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) negotiates assurances for all activities involving human subjects that are supported by the Department of Health and Human Services (Additional information is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/). ANIMAL SUBJECTS REQUIREMENTS If the proposed project involves research on animal subjects, compliance with the "PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals by Awardee Institutions" is required. An applicant (as well as each subcontractor or cooperating institution that has immediate responsibility for animal subjects) proposing to use vertebrate animals in CDC-supported activities must file (or have on file) the Animal Welfare Assurance with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) at the National Institutes of Health. The applicant must provide in the application the assurance of compliance number and evidence of review and approval (including the date of the most recent approval) by the Institutional Care and Use Committee (IACUC). INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the CDC to ensure that individuals of both sexes and the various racial and ethnic groups will be included in 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 or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Applicants shall ensure that women, racial and ethnic minority populations are appropriately represented in applications for research involving human subjects. Where clear and compelling rationale exist that inclusion is inappropriate or not feasible, this situation must be explained as part of the application. 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, pages 47947-47951, and dated Friday, September 15, 1995. URLS IN NIOSH GRANT APPLICATIONS OR APPENDICES All applications must be self-contained within specified page limitations. Unless otherwise specified, internet addresses (URLs) should not be used to provide information necessary to the review because reviewers are under no obligation to view the internet sites. Reviewers are cautioned that their anonymity may be compromised when they directly access an internet site. LETTER OF INTENT Prospective applicants are asked to submit, by March 1, 2001, a letter of intent that includes the number and title of the RFA, a descriptive title of the proposed research, the name, address, and telephone number of the Principal Investigator, and the identities of other key personnel and participating institutions. Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and is not used in the review of an application, the information that it contains is used to estimate the potential review workload and avoid conflict of interest in the review. The letter of intent is to be submitted to: Pervis Major, Ph.D. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1600 Clifton Road, N.E. Building 1, Room 3053, MS D-30 Atlanta, GA 30333 Telephone 304-285-5979 Fax 304-285-6047 Email: [email protected] APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applicants must use Form PHS 398 (rev. 4/98). Application kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from the Division of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone 301/710-0267, Email: [email protected]. Application kits are also available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm. The forms may also be downloaded from the internet at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html The RFA label available in the PHS 398 (rev. 4/98) application form must be affixed to the bottom of the face page of the application. Failure to use this label could result in delayed processing of the application such that it may not reach the review committee in time for review. In addition, the RFA title and number must be typed on line 2 of the face page of the application form and the "YES" box must be marked. The sample RFA label available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/label-bk.pdf has been modified to allow for this change. Please note this is in pdf format. Submit a signed original of the application, including the Checklist, and three signed photocopies, in one package to: Center for Scientific Review (CSR) National Institutes of Health 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040 - MSC 7710 Bethesda, MD 20892-7710 Bethesda, MD 20817 (for express/courier service) At the time of submission, two additional copies of the application must also be sent to: Pervis Major, Ph.D. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1600 Clifton Road, N.E. Building 1, Room 3053, MS D-30 Atlanta, GA 30333 Telephone 304-285-5979 Fax 304-285-6047 Email: [email protected] Applications must be received by April 18, 2001. If an application is received after that date, it will be returned to the applicant without review. CSR and NIOSH will not accept any application in response to this RFA that is essentially the same as one currently pending initial review, unless the applicant withdraws the pending application. CSR and NIOSH will not accept any application that is essentially the same as one already reviewed. This does not preclude the submission of a substantial revision of an application already reviewed, but such an application must follow the guidance in the PHS Form 398 application instructions for the preparation of revised applications, including an introduction addressing the previous critique. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by CSR and responsiveness by NIOSH. 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 determined to be incomplete or unresponsive to this RFA will be returned to the applicant without further consideration. Applications that are complete and responsive to the RFA will be reviewed for technical merit by a scientific review group convened by NIOSH. All applications will be judged on the basis of the scientific merit of the proposed project and the documented ability of the investigators to meet the RESEARCH OBJECTIVES of the RFA. As part of the scientific merit review, all applications will receive a written critique and undergo a process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific merit, generally the top half of applications under review, will be discussed and assigned a priority score. Following the scientific merit review, applications will then be reviewed by NIOSH according to the programmatic review criteria below. Scientific Review Criteria o Significance. Does this study address an important problem? If the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge be advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts or methods that drive this field? Is the chemical(s) studied a priority chemical? o Approach. Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses adequately developed, well-integrated, and appropriate to the aims of the project? Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics? Is the study population well defined? Can the chemical exposures be adequately assessed and differentiated? Are the investigators using the most appropriate reproductive/developmental outcomes? o Innovation - Does the project employ novel concepts, approaches or methods? Are the aims original and innovative? Does the project challenge existing paradigms or develop new methodologies or technologies? o Investigator - Is the investigator appropriately trained and well-suited to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers, if any? o Environment - Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Do the proposed experiments take advantage of unique features of the scientific environment or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Is there documentation of cooperation from industry, unions, communities, or other participants in the project, where applicable? Is there evidence of institutional support and availability of resources necessary to perform the project? The scientific review group will also examine the appropriateness of proposed project budget and duration, the adequacy of plans to include both genders, minorities and their subgroups, and children as appropriate for the scientific goals of the research and plans for the recruitment and retention of subjects, the provisions for the protection of human and animal subjects, and the safety of the research environment. The personnel category will be reviewed for appropriate staffing based on the requested percent effort. The direct costs budget request will be reviewed for consistency with the proposed methods and specific aims. The duration of support will be reviewed to determine if it is appropriate to ensure successful completion of the requested scope of the project. Programmatic Review Criteria: o Magnitude of the problem in terms of numbers of workers affected. o Severity of the disease or injury in the worker population. o Likelihood of developing applied technical knowledge for the prevention of occupational safety and health hazards on a national or regional basis. AWARD CONSIDERATIONS Applications will be considered for award based upon (a) scientific merit, (b) program importance, (c) program balance, and (d) availability of funds. SCHEDULE Letter of Intent Receipt Date: March 1, 2001 Application Receipt Date: April 18, 2001 Anticipated Award Date: September 1, 2001 INQUIRIES Inquiries concerning this RFA are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. This RFA and other CDC Announcements can be found on the CDC HomePage (http://www.cdc.gov) under the "Funding" section (see "Grants and Cooperative Agreements" scroll down to "Occupational Safety and Health"). This RFA can also be found on the NIOSH HomePage (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh) under "Extramural Programs", "Current Funding Opportunities". Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to: Lee M. Sanderson, Ph.D. Office of Extramural Programs National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road, N.E. Building 1, Room 3053, MS D-28 Atlanta, GA 30333 Telephone: 404/639-1528 FAX: 404/639-4616 Email: [email protected] Direct inquiries regarding grants management matters to: Joanne Wojcik Grants Management Branch Procurement and Grants Office Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2920 Brandywine Road, Suite 3000 Atlanta, GA 30341-4146 Telephone: 770/488-2717 Email: [email protected] AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number is: 93.262 for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). 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. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of executive order 12372 or Health Systems Agency Review. LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS Applicants should be aware of restrictions on the use of HHS funds for lobbying of Federal or State legislative bodies. Under the provisions of 31 U.S.C. Section 1352, recipients (and their subtier contractors) are prohibited from using appropriated Federal funds (other than profits from a Federal contract) for lobbying congress or any Federal agency in connection with the award of a particular contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or loan. This includes grants/cooperative agreements that, in whole or in part, involve conferences for which Federal funds cannot be used directly or indirectly to encourage participants to lobby or to instruct participants on how to lobby. In addition, no part of PHS appropriated funds shall be used, other than for normal and recognized executive-legislative relationships, for publicity or propaganda purposes, for the preparation, distribution, or use of any kit, pamphlet, booklet, publication, radio, television, or video presentation designed to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress or any State or local legislature, except in presentation to the Congress or any State or local legislature itself. No part of the appropriated funds shall be used to pay the salary or expenses of any grant or contract recipient, or agent acting for such recipient, related to any activity designed to influence legislation or appropriations pending before the Congress or any State or local legislature. 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. SMALL, MINORITY, AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS It is a national policy to place a fair share of purchases with small, minority and women-owned business firms. The Department of Health and Human Services is strongly committed to the objective of this policy and encourages all recipients of its grants and cooperative agreements to take affirmative steps to ensure such fairness. In particular, recipients should: 1. Place small, minority, women-owned business firms on bidders mailing lists. 2. Solicit these firms whenever they are potential sources of supplies, equipment, construction, or services. 3. Where feasible, divide total requirements into smaller needs, and set delivery schedules that will encourage participation by these firms. 4. Use the assistance of the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce, the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, DHHS, and similar state and local offices.
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
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