Welcome to the NIOSH blog. It provides yet another way to further our long-standing commitment to optimizing two-way communication with our partners. The blog provides an expeditious system for you, our partners, to present ideas to NIOSH scientists and each other while engaging in robust scientific discussion with the goal of protecting workers.

We want this blog to serve as a portal to real, open, and honest scientific communication. That said, this blog is moderated using the NIOSH Science Blog Comment Policy presented here.

We expect participants to show respect and consideration to the authors and others using the blog. Participants must comply with any applicable policies, regulations, and laws. All comments will be reviewed prior to posting, and NIOSH maintains the discretion to omit any or all portions of a comment that violate this comment policy. We will not post vulgar language, personal attacks of any kind, offensive terms that target specific groups, unsupported accusations or claims, or other comments we deem inappropriate. We will not knowingly post comments that promote misinformation/disinformation, infringe on copyrights or any intellectual property rights. Furthermore, we will not post comments that are spam, are clearly off topic, promote companies, services, or products, or could be construed as lobbying. Documents and attachments will not be posted on the blog. E-mail addresses and urls will not be posted in the “name” field.

Importantly, comments from individuals outside of NIOSH do not necessarily represent NIOSH policy or the views of NIOSH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). References to companies, products or services do not constitute an endorsement or favoritism by NIOSH, CDC, HHS, or the U.S. government.

Comments submitted to this blog may include links or URLs to external sites created and maintained by public and private organizations, or members of the public not affiliated with NIOSH, CDC, HHS, or the U.S. government. Links will be included at NIOSH’s discretion and may be removed from a comment prior to posting. Any links to external sites or URLs included in a comment that are posted to the NIOSH blog are provided solely for educational and informational purposes, and for the user’s convenience. NIOSH, CDC, HHS, and the U.S. government are not responsible for the availability or content of such external sites and do not endorse, warrant or guarantee the services or information described or offered on the site.  Additionally, the views and information provided on external websites do not necessarily state or reflect those of NIOSH, CDC, HHS, or the U.S. government.

Participants should specifically ensure that no personally identifiable or personal health information about themselves or others is provided, especially information restricted from release under the Privacy Act or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Every effort will be made to post comments in a timely manner that are responsive to the science presented on the blog and that do not violate the Comment Policy. Comments can be expected to appear during business hours Monday through Friday. To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include any personally identifying information (e.g., phone numbers or email addresses) in the body of your comment. The blog is not a substitute for public comments intended for the NIOSH docket.

Reporters are asked to send questions to the NIOSH Public Affairs Office through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted.

Thank you for taking the time to read the NIOSH Science Blog Comment Policy. We look forward to hearing from you on the blog!

If you have any questions about the Comment Policy, email nioshblog@cdc.gov.

Updated 12/2/2022