200 and Counting!

Categories: Media

July 15th, 2014 2:30 pm ET - Julie Tisdale-Pardi, MA

This is the 200th post to the NIOSH Science Blog. In our nearly seven years of posting we have covered topics ranging fromnanotechnology to noise-induced hearing loss for workers at the World Cup. Since our first post in 2007, the blog has received 1,155,680 views. Our top five most popular blogs are: N95 Respirators and Surgical Masks;Preventing Back Injuries in Health Care Settings; Workplace Stress; Frequency of Respirator Fit Testing; and Truck Driver Safety and Health.

The blog has provided NIOSH researchers with an opportunity for two-way communication with our readers in a format not previously available. In fact, the blog has received over 3,400 comments as of this posting. Through the blog we have received:

Offers of assistance to help NIOSH test prototypes Contractors Wanted: Help NIOSH Advance Research to Protect Workers from Silica
Input on research and products Police and Stress; Truck Driver Safety and Health;N95 Respirators and Surgical Masks; Help! What do you want from a mobile Pocket Guide?
Assistance from industry partners to characterize worker exposures and develop and evaluate controls Reports of Worker Fatalities during Flowback Operations;Controlling Exposures to Workers Who Make or Use Nanomaterials; Silica Hazards from Engineered Stone Countertops; Help Wanted: Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation Research
Help creating a list of movies and books with workplace safety and health themes Mad as a Hatter: Mercury and Other Occupational Hazards at the Movies ; OSH in the Movies: This Time It’s Personal; Tales of Toil
Information on the identification of the first U.S. case of work-related silicosis from quartz surfacing countertop manufacturing Silica Hazards from Engineered Stone Countertops
Input on new areas of research or emerging hazards Erionite: An Emerging North American Hazard; 1-Bromopropane; Worker Exposure to Crystalline Silica During Hydraulic Fracturing; Police and Stress
Invitations for authors to present their research at conferences and public meetings
Numerous reposting and reprinting of blogs as well as feedback on how NIOSH information is used.

We started the blog in the fall of 2007. At that time we were the only external blog at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—now there are 14. Not surprisingly, blogging was initially met with some resistance internally. What was once a new- fangled social media outlet with an unclear application to NIOSH research is now a routine aspect of communication planning at NIOSH.

As we look to the future of blogging at NIOSH we would like to hear from you. What do you think of the NIOSH Science Blog? What topics would you like to see covered? What do you view as barriers to commenting on the blog? We look forward to your comments.

Julie Tisdale-Pardi, MA

Ms. Tisdale-Pardi is the NIOSH Science Blog Coordinator