Most-viewed NIOSH Products of 2022

As we look forward to 2023, we also are taking a look back at our most-viewed products of 2022. After two years of information focused on COVID-19, 2022 brought a variety of topics that engaged our users including ergonomics, construction, ladder safety, and working in the heat. Below is a summary of the top NIOSH information from 2022, where a surprising twist on lifting safety took social media by storm just a few weeks ago.

NIOSH Science Blog

The NIOSH Science Blog allows researchers to communicate their work in a user-friendly format and provides the opportunity for discussion. We added 99 new blog posts in 2022. The blog was viewed nearly 810,000 times in 2022, an increase of 24,000 views from 2021. Respirator information remained popular representing the first, second, and third most viewed blogs. Blogs on night shift work and cancer and bathtub refinishing rounded out the top five.  Of the new blogs posted in 2022, the most viewed include blogs on welder’s anthrax, tips to adapt to daylight savings time, the Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards,  preventing struck by fatalities, and the role of the industrial hygienist in a pandemic.  Click here to subscribe to receive e-mails when new blogs are posted.

Twitter

NIOSH uses Twitter to share updates, links, news, and tips about occupational safety and health. In addition to our main @NIOSH account, we have specialized accounts that focus on topics like noise (@NIOSHNoise) and Total Worker Health (@NIOSH_TWH). These accounts have a combined 380,000 followers, and we tweeted from them more than 1700 times in 2022. This year several of our most far-reaching tweets came in the summer, advising workers about the heat. This one, from September 14^th, had 14,000 impressions:

Summer may be winding down but it is still hot outside! Extreme heat can result in worker illness or injury. Employers should have a plan in place to prevent heat-related illness in workers. Tips to stay safe in the heat: https://t.co/aIvQx5L6EH #BeatTheHeat #HeatSafety https://t.co/Y2O7pTpBwf

Other top tweets talked about emergency preparedness, specifically around hurricane season. However, our most popular tweet of the year, with 46,000 impressions, advised on preventing falls in construction:

It’s #LadderSafetyMonth! Falls are the leading cause of death in #construction. This hazard alert provides tips to keeping construction workers safe and preventing falls from ladders. https://t.co/DCuIpVUtc5 https://t.co/JBUoFcPPj8

Using social platforms allows us to engage with people and groups across the OSH community. When someone clicks on one of our tweets, shares it, replies to it, or likes it, Twitter counts that as “engagement.” An average tweet from our main NIOSH account was engaged with 33 times this year (from a high of 990 engagements to a low of 2). Nearly 16% of people who saw this post engaged with it:

Today is #WorldCOPDDay. Work-related COPD accounts for approximately 15% of all COPD cases. Be sure to discuss any respiratory symptoms with your physician including past work activities. Learn more in this video series:  https://bit.ly/3vHtgzY  #COPDMonth #BreatheBetter

Facebook

NIOSH promotes worker safety and health on Facebook, noting observances such as Workers Memorial Day and National Safety Month, sharing facts, and providing recommendations. Our most broadly seen message in 2022 had 92,000 impressions (an average post had about 7,000 impressions):

 It’s Women in Construction Week! Women account for 10% of the construction workforce. It is important employers are providing properly fitting PPE for all employees. Learn more: http://bit.ly/CPWRWomen

Posts that had to do with ergonomics, dangers in construction, and new publications or reports also tended to spread widely on Facebook.

Our Facebook profile has over 160,000 followers. We posted to it 600 times this year, and those posts were seen more than 4 million times. People liked, shared, commented on, or clicked on our posts 90,000 times. Our post with the highest rate of engagement—at almost 6.5%–shared a new entry to the Science Blog:

This holiday season we are checking in at the North Pole with workplace safety and health advice for Santa and the elves. In preparation for the big day, we are providing some ergonomic tips to keep Santa and the elves safe while making, lifting, loading, and delivering all those presents! Learn more on the NIOSH Science Blog: https://bit.ly/3VzjkEO

Our Facebook page had the most engagement across all the NIOSH channels in 2022. We hope you continue engaging with us on Facebook! Please like, share, and comment with your feedback and thoughts on our posts!

Instagram

Our Instagram channel is still a popular place to share infographics and images. Our most popular topics include ergonomics, ladder safety, and NIOSH apps. We’ve also dabbled in reels this year. We have over 47,000 followers. Our posts had nearly 400,000 impressions in 2022 and over 17,000 engagements.

The most engaging post on Instagram was our Santa lifting graphic. It had 520 engagements and an engagement rate of 5.3%! It was also our post with the most impressions, topping out at nearly 10,000!

This holiday season we are checking in at the North Pole with workplace safety and health advice for Santa and the elves. In preparation for the big day, visit the link in our bio for some ergonomic tips to keep Santa and the elves safe while making, lifting, loading, and delivering all those presents!

While our Instagram channel did not see the growth it had in past years, we hope a focus on Reels and infographics in 2023 will have you liking and sharing!

LinkedIn

In mid-2022, NIOSH started a LinkedIn page. The page has already grown to nearly 1,000 followers. Our page focuses on sharing new research, webinars, and job openings at NIOSH. We’ve posted over 200 times and had nearly 30,000 impressions.

Our top post by impressions (1465) and engagement (102) shared tips and tricks for Santa to keep himself and the elves safe this holiday season.

This holiday season we are checking in at the North Pole with workplace safety and health advice for Santa and the elves. In preparation for the big day, we are providing some ergonomic tips to keep Santa and the elves safe while making, lifting, loading, and delivering all those presents! Learn more on the NIOSH Science Blog: https://bit.ly/3VzjkEO

Another popular post showcased how to tell the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke and provided resources to prepare for summer heat. This post has an engagement rate of 21.4%!

As we head into the hottest part of summer, make sure your workers are prepared for extreme heat. Find all the latest NIOSH resources and information in the July edition of NIOSH eNews: https://bit.ly/3NOv1mA 

Videos

NIOSH has 267 videos available on YouTube, which were viewed 400,000 times in 2022. Many of these are recordings of presentations and talks dealing with important issues in the world of occupational safety and health. Our popular Talking Safety classroom series shows teachers how to introduce safe work practices to young people who will soon enter the workforce. It includes six videos that were viewed more than 10,000 times this year. Our most popular video in 2022 was How Poison Ivy Works, viewed 24,000 times. We added 43 new videos over the course of the year on topics like removing mortar, the future of work, and work-life boundaries.  

Websites

The NIOSH website was viewed 33,411,000 times in 2022 up 2.28 million views from last year.  Users continued to access respirator information in 2022 with four of the top five webpages related to respirator content.

Approved N95 Respirators 3M Suppliers List

Counterfeit Respirators/ Misrepresentation of NIOSH Approval

Approved N95 Respirators H Suppliers List

Approved Particulate Filtering Facepiece Respirators

Heat Stress Related Illness

Apps

In 2022, NIOSH apps were downloaded 1.9 million times, up from 864,000 in 2021.  Currently NIOSH has eight apps included below in order of downloads. The Heat Safety Tool App was the most downloaded (981,412) followed by the Sound Level Meter App (528,157) and the Pocket Guide App (314,034).

The OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool App is a useful resource for planning outdoor work activities based on how hot it feels throughout the day. Featuring real-time heat index and hourly forecasts, specific to your location, as well as occupational safety and health recommendations from OSHA and NIOSH.

The NIOSH Sound Level Meter mobile app is a tool to measure sound levels in the workplace and provide noise exposure parameters to help reduce occupational noise-induced hearing loss.

The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards Native Application (mNPG) is a database of workplace chemical information including exposure limits, chemical/physical properties, personal protective equipment, respirators, and first aid. The mNPG is customizable and easy to use and is a valuable resource for workers, employers, and occupational safety and health professionals.

The Ladder Safety App is designed to improve extension and step ladder safety — a concern for those working in construction or any other task that requires ladder use.

The NIOSH Lifting Equation mobile application, NLE Calc, is a tool to calculate the overall risk index for single and multiple manual lifting tasks. This application provides risk estimates to help evaluate lifting tasks and reduce the incidence of low back injuries in workers.

The NIOSH PPE Tracker mobile app can help healthcare and non-healthcare systems track their personal protective equipment (PPE) inventory. Facilities can use the app to calculate their average PPE consumption rate or “burn rate.” The app estimates how many days a PPE supply will last given current inventory levels and PPE burn rate.

Toolbox Talks provide information related to workplace hazards and risks to workers at Stone, Sand, Gravel, and Aggregates (SSGA) operations.  This information can be used to increase workers’ health and safety.

ErgoMine is NIOSH’s ergonomics audit tool designed specifically for mining. It includes audits and recommendations for bagging, haul truck, and maintenance and repair operations at surface mining and processing facilities.

As we look toward 2023, we hope you continue to find our content useful and engaging. Let us know in the comments, what you hope to see on our social channels in 2023!

Garrett Burnett, MS, MBA, is a technology transfer specialist in the NIOSH Communication and Research to Practice Office and an assistant coordinator for NIOSH’s Small Business Assistance Program.

Katie Shahan, JD, is the NIOSH Social Media Manager and a Health Communication Specialist in the NIOSH Communication and Research to Practice Office.

Burt Tienken is the NIOSH Web Metrics Analyst.

Julie Tisdale-Pardi, MA, is the NIOSH Science Blog Coordinator and a Health Communication Specialist in the NIOSH Communication and Research to Practice Office.