The California workplace is changing rapidly: the economy is shifting from manufacturing to services; new materials, processes, and equipment are introduced every day; work weeks are longer; job security and temporary work patterns have changed. The California workforce is also changing, becoming older and more diverse. These changes present new challenges to protecting worker safety and health and reducing the impact of work injuries on workers, their families, and society.

The current toll of occupational injury and illness for California workers, their families, and our society in general is too high. We are faced with new challenges in protecting worker safety and health, as the workplace and the workforce are rapidly changing. Considerable progress has been made in improving workplace health and safety since the initiation of OSHA in 1970. This progress has largely been based on the science and knowledge generated by occupational safety and health research. However, resources for occupational safety and health research are extremely limited. There is thus a great need to focus and coordinate existing resources more systematically, and to seek expanded resources for occupational health research.

The Commission, the Occupational Health Branch of the Department of Health Services, the Division of Workers’ Compensation, Cal-OSHA, and the Division of Labor Statistics and Research are initiating a process to develop a California Occupational Research Agenda (CORA). This project is patterned after the development of a National Occupational Research Agenda by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

This project will, through a collaborative effort between California's government agencies, researchers, and affected public constituencies, develop a framework to guide occupational safety and health research in California for the next decade. This will be accomplished through a systematic process involving a diverse group of organizations.

A survey of current research is underway.