National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Supports United States occupational safety and health research, worker training, and workplace prevention through federal public-health science.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, is the U.S. federal occupational-safety institute inside the CDC and HHS. It was created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to develop new knowledge in occupational safety and health and move that knowledge into practice, and it employs more than 1,300 people across ten divisions and nine centers.

Its extramural portfolio funds investigator-initiated research through R01, R03, R21, and K01 mechanisms, along with cooperative agreements and training routes such as Education and Research Centers and Training Project Grants. The institute also runs targeted lines for the World Trade Center Health Program, commercial fishing safety in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, state occupational health surveillance, and Total Worker Health centers.

NIOSH uses NIH grant infrastructure and an OH prefix for its notices, which makes the application pattern familiar to universities, medical centers, and training consortia. The fit is strongest for teams working in occupational medicine, industrial hygiene, injury prevention, surveillance, and worker training, where a federal research program matters more than a one-off prize or an unrestricted award.