The NIOSH Agricultural Center Evaluation Project
A new evaluation contract was awarded to the High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (HICAHS: V. Buchan & H. Holmquist-Johnson, #212-2004-09852) in fall 2004 to renew the Agricultural Center Initiative evaluation effort. Each Center designated a representative to become a member of the Agricultural Center Evaluation (ACE) team. Four workshops have been hosted by HICAHS since January, 2005 for Center evaluators to improve upon the previous evaluation process. The first report piloted the new ACE database in 2006 over a 5 month period. The report for all 12 months fiscal year 2007 will be completed in January 2008. The evaluation project is currently funded through September 2008.
Two key requirements were addressed: (1) to ensure continuation of the Agricultural Center Initiative evaluation process, the monitoring model that had been developed for the 2000 and 2001 reports was reviewed, and modifications, as well as additions, were made to the variables to be included and to their definitions; and (2) to develop and pilot a model for evaluating the impact of selected funded Agricultural Initiative projects on the safety and health of agricultural workers and their families.