Appendix A
Statement of Task
The National Academies, through its Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology and Committee on National Statistics, will review the 2001-2002 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)/Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of respirator use among private firms in the United States, as found in the 2003 NIOSH publication “Respirator Usage in Private Sector Firms, 2001.” This review will address the following:
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The adequacy and appropriateness of the survey instrument, considering both the content and the format of the instrument;
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The adequacy and appropriateness of the survey methodology, including the choice of sample, the sampling method, survey follow-up, and ultimate response rate;
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The adequacy of resultant survey data;
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How the data obtained from the survey were analyzed;
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Conclusions reached from the data, and whether additional information is available from the data through additional statistical analysis; and
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A recommendation for additional information that NIOSH might derive from current and future survey results.
A report will be issued addressing these questions and providing recommendations for further surveys that NIOSH might undertake to obtain additional information regarding industrial and nonindustrial respirator use.