Presence of exposures to hazardous substances, conditions, trauma, etc.
Existence of unique, novel, or unusual exposures
Presence of complex environments or combined exposures
Potential implications of exposures on worker health
Types of science/research methodologies necessary to address/answer exposure questions
Adverse health event-related factors
Observance or anticipation of unique, novel, particularly serious, or unusual adverse health events
Occurrence of unexpected or unforeseen occupational health issues during or following an event
Presence of higher than expected number or rates of a specific adverse health event or of overall events
Occurrence of adverse health problems associated with exposures below applicable occupational limits
Public health significance and scientific importance
Ability to provide new knowledge or information about an exposure-outcome relationship
Ability to evaluate specific exposures or outcomes that have not been adequately studied
Ability to generalize to other situations or populations
Ability to confirm or refute a preliminary or pre-existing hypothesis or theory
Ability to answer questions that need to be answered and cannot be answered any other way
Ability to contribute to or directly improve the public health response to disasters
Magnitude of event, for example, a large number of workers exposed or considered at risk
Societal factors
High-profile or traumatic event
Beliefs about harm or resource disparities, particularly among high-risk groups
Unique vulnerability of the worker population
Socioeconomic, legal, political, and psychological implications of the event
Feasibility factors
Access to the work site(s)
Ability to quickly collect reliable data, particularly if data could be lost if not collected immediately
Ability to document or validate human health consequences
Ability to assign workers into exposure categories to permit exposure-related assessment
Adequate study size and statistical power
Ability to identify and locate subjects and records
Availability of an appropriate control or comparison population
Ability to address potential confounding factors
Ability to measure and disentangle the relevant environmental, behavioral, or other factors
Ability to reasonably estimate or document individual exposure
Adequacy of resources to support, conduct, and complete the study
Adequacy of support from employers and unions or other relevant stakeholders (e.g. federal agencies, state or local agencies or components of trade groups, etc.)
Ability to provide participants with necessary confidentiality
Ability to address potential ethical issues and obtain expeditious Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for time-sensitive research
For federal agencies, ability to obtain timely emergency clearance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for survey instruments that fall under the jurisdiction of the Paperwork Reduction Act
Adequacy of preliminary or baseline data to support the study (this is implied in some of the above bullets)
Level of research interest
Research arising from academic/research areas of interest
Contribution to established institution program goals, such as emergency response research priority areas
Taken from Decker JA, et al. 2013. Am J Disaster Med 2013 Jan/Mar; 8(1):25-33.
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