Author : United States Government Accountability Office
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Page : 66 pages
File Size : 46,63 MB
Release : 2017-09-15
Category :
ISBN : 9781976387715
Book Description
Congress enacted a program to compensate Department of Energy employees and contractors in the atomic weapons industry who developed work-related illnesses. Labor administers the program using estimates of workers' likely radiation exposure to decide claims. The estimates are produced by Health and Human Services' (HHS) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and reviewed by the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health. NIOSH awarded a contract to Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to help carry out its work. GAO examined: (1) costs and oversight of NIOSH's contracts, (2) implementation of the conflict of interest policy for NIOSH and its contractors, (3) the extent of Labor's involvement in NIOSH's activities and actions to deny benefits, and (4) challenges to advisory board independence and options to enhance it. GAO reviewed contract files, examined Labor's comments on NIOSH documents, and analyzed data on cases sent to NIOSH for rework.