Request for Information about Occupational Robotics Research Prioritization

Robotics technology has entered a period of rapid growth, which will have profound impacts on the workplace and human workers. In September 2017, NIOSH established the Center for Occupational Robotics Research to provide scientific leadership to guide the development and use of robots in the workplace that enhance worker safety, health, and well-being. The Center will conduct and encourage research on robotics as engineering controls to improve workplace safety, as well as robots as a potential source for societal stress and injury risk. NIOSH nominally identified research needs to be addressed by the Center in four areas:

• Basic/etiologic: Study of human-related, robot-related, and task-related and environmental risks factors contributing to robot-related injuries.
• Intervention: 1) Evaluation of robotics technologies as preventive measures for existing workplace hazards and 2) development and evaluation of interventions to reduce robot-related injury incidents and improve the safety and well-being.
• Translation: Study of strategies to translate research findings and theoretical knowledge to practices or technologies in the workplace.
• Surveillance: Development of new methods, tools, and techniques for ongoing and systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on health outcomes (e.g., injuries and illnesses) and contributors (e.g., behaviors or actions).

NIOSH sought feedback on potential refinements to the identified research needs that would address important worker safety and health knowledge gaps that have not been addressed, and how specific research should be prioritized.

To view the notice and related materials, visit https://www.regulations.gov and enter CDC-2018-0046 in the search field and click “Search”.