The Initiative Download Torrent
Pamula Harrison
In December, Congress provided $1.15 billion in funding over four years for NIH to support research into the prolonged health consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A diverse team of experts from across the agency has worked diligently over the past few weeks to identify the most pressing research questions and the areas of greatest opportunity to address this emerging public health priority. Today we issued the first in a series of Research Opportunity Announcements (ROAs) for the newly formed NIH PASC Initiative. Through this initiative, we aim to learn more about how SARS-CoV-2 may lead to such widespread and lasting symptoms, and to develop ways to treat or prevent these conditions. We believe that the insight we gain from this research will also enhance our knowledge of the basic biology of how humans recover from infection, and improve our understanding of other chronic post-viral syndromes and autoimmune diseases, as well as other diseases with similar symptoms.
These initial research opportunities will support a combination of ongoing and new research studies and the creation of core resources. We anticipate subsequent calls for other kinds of research, in particular opportunities focused on clinical trials to test strategies for treating long-term symptoms and promoting recovery from infection.
Core Resources: A clinical science core, data resource core, and biorepository core will provide overall consortium coordination, clinical expertise in post-acute COVID symptoms, and facilitate the use of standardized data and biological specimens collected from the consortium studies by consented volunteers.
Our hearts go out to individuals and families who have not only gone through the difficult experience of acute COVID-19, but now find themselves still struggling with lingering and debilitating symptoms. Throughout this pandemic, we have witnessed the resilience of our patient, medical, and scientific communities as they have come together in extraordinary ways. NIH deeply appreciates the contributions of patients who have not fully recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection and who have offered their experiences and insights to lead us to this point, including those with other post-viral infections. Through the PASC Initiative, we now ask the patient, medical, and scientific communities to come together to help us understand the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how we may be able to prevent and treat these effects moving forward.
The initiative will hold accountable entities or individuals that put U.S. information or systems at risk by knowingly providing deficient cybersecurity products or services, knowingly misrepresenting their cybersecurity practices or protocols, or knowingly violating obligations to monitor and report cybersecurity incidents and breaches. The benefits of the initiative will include:
An indictment was unsealed in the Central District of California yesterday charging two Chinese nationals alleging they played leading roles in a scheme to launder proceeds from cryptocurrency investment scams.
The initiative will examine more closely how technology is fundamentally changing the way employment decisions are made. It aims to guide applicants, employees, employers, and technology vendors in ensuring that these technologies are used fairly, consistent with federal equal employment opportunity laws.
The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.
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OSHA requirements are set by statute, standards and regulations. Our interpretation letters explain these requirements and how they apply to particular circumstances, but they cannot create additional employer obligations. This letter constitutes OSHA's interpretation of the requirements discussed. Note that our enforcement guidance may be affected by changes to OSHA rules. Also, from time to time we update our guidance in response to new information. To keep apprised of such developments, you can consult OSHA's website at
This memorandum establishes a new initiative to conduct enhanced enforcement and compliance assistance efforts in the engineered stone fabrication1 and installation industries. Based on recent studies of silicosis cases and fatalities,2,3 and a review of prior OSHA inspection history, OSHA has identified the following two North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for this focused initiative: 327991 - Cut Stone and Stone Product Manufacturing, and 423320 - Brick, Stone, and Related Construction Material Merchant Wholesalers. A primary goal of this initiative is to prioritize OSHA inspection activity in workplaces where workers are typically exposed to high levels of silica, and to identify hazards and ensure prompt abatement. All inspections in the two NAICS listed above, programmed and unprogrammed, shall cover the hazards associated with exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS or silica).
In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a study in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) in 2019, where eighteen cases of silicosis, including two fatalities, were reported among engineered stone fabrication workers in four states. Several patients also had autoimmune disease and latent tuberculosis infection.2 This CDC report noted that as of 2018, there were an estimated 8,694 establishments and 96,366 employees in the stone fabrication industry in the United States, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for NAICS code 327911 (Cut Stone and Stone Product Manufacturing) and NAICS code 423320 (Brick, Stone, and Related Construction Material Merchant Wholesalers).
More recently, JAMA Network published a study on its Internal Medicine page on Silicosis Among Immigrant Engineered Stone (Quartz) Countertop Fabrication Workers in California, July 24, 2023, which described 52 male patients who were diagnosed with silicosis caused by occupational exposure to respirable silica dust from engineered stone. Twenty of the patients had advanced disease (progressive massive fibrosis), 11 were referred for lung transplants, and 10 died. This study noted that exposure to higher silica dust levels can cause silicosis to occur in acute and accelerated forms over shorter periods of time, as observed among many of the patients in the study with a primary occupation of stone countertop fabricator and who regularly worked with engineered stone . Further, this study stated that an estimated 100,000 stone fabricators in the U.S. are at potential risk for silicosis associated with exposure to respirable crystalline silica, citing BLS data.
Scope: This memorandum applies to Federal OSHA inspections in OSHA Regions 1 through 8, which are the regions with the highest concentration of establishments in the targeted industry sectors. Programmed inspections will be prioritized in the following two NAICS codes: 327991 - Cut Stone and Stone Product Manufacturing, and 423320 - Brick, Stone, and Related Construction Material Merchant Wholesalers. OSHA inspection data shows that silica overexposures are found more frequently in the Cut Stone and Stone Product Manufacturing industry, NAICS 327991, but also that inspections in the Brick, Stone, and Related Construction Material Merchant Wholesalers industry, NAICS 423320, were five times less frequent than in NAICS 327991. This initiative targets and addresses the hazards of overexposure to silica in NAICS 327991 and NAICS 423320 and is expected to increase the likelihood of inspecting high-risk tasks. Area Offices will focus enforcement efforts on these two NAICS codes using the targeting and site selection procedures outlined below.
Although not required, Area Offices (AO) or Regional Offices (RO) may develop a Local Emphasis Program (LEP) or Regional Emphasis Program (REP) if Regions determine that such programs are justified after reviewing relevant data (e.g., review of the number of sites in the region) and considering other resource demands. The instructions in this memorandum should be considered in any REP or LEP developed to inspect facilities in the two NAICS covered by this initiative.
State Plan Impact: Because RCS hazards are nationwide, State Plans were required to adopt the RCS NEP or an at least as effective RCS State Emphasis Program. OSHA also encourages State Plan adoption of the instructions provided in this memorandum.
Goal: This initiative requires each Area Office in Regions 1 through 8 to complete a minimum of five (5) programmed inspections (i.e., targeting sites selected from NAICS 327991 and 423320) of establishments working with engineered stone, within 12 months from the date of this initiative. Regional Offices may use these inspections to count towards achieving their goal of 2 percent of all inspections under the RCS NEP. Regions should increase this initiative's goal based on local knowledge and concentration of facilities per Area Office. For example, if there is a higher concentration of establishments in any of the covered NAICS codes in one geographic area of the Region, inspections should be concentrated in that area, (some area offices may have no inspections) or a regional/local emphasis program may be implemented. CSHOs may expand the scope of other programmed or unprogrammed inspections to address the covered hazards where worksite conditions or other evidence indicates that such hazards may be present in accordance with the FOM. In addition, multiple inspections shall be opened for each employer whose employees are performing the covered processes at one location. See CPL 02-00-124, Multi-Employer Citation Policy, December 10, 1999.
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