Articles from AIHA

AIHA, the association for occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals, inducted its new Board of Directors for the 2025-2026 term during its annual business meeting held during the AIHA Connect 2025 conference in Kansas City, MO. The AIHA Board will commence its first Strategic Planning meeting in July in New Orleans, LA, site of AIHA Connect 2026.

AIHA is pleased to announce the companies sponsoring its annual conference, AIHA Connect 2025, happening May 19-21 in Kansas City, MO. The 2025 sponsors represent a variety of industries and have valuable opportunities to reach professionals from every sector of occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS).

AIHA—the association for scientists and professionals dedicated to occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—announces the release of Heat Stress App 2.0, its next-generation mobile tool that now includes risk factors unique to indoor workers. This new version follows the successful launch of AIHA’s original heat stress app, which helped outdoor workers and their employers assess job-related heat health risks.

Howard Berkes, a distinguished award-winning journalist and retired NPR Investigations Correspondent, will deliver the 2025 Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture during AIHA Connect, the annual conference and expo for occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals hosted by AIHA.

AIHA is pleased to announce its 2025 Hamilton Club member companies. The Hamilton Club is the Association’s exclusive partner program comprised of industry organizations that elevate AIHA's enterprise-wide initiatives on the highest levels through sponsorship, advertising, Foundation support, and other contributions.

AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety, is taking action to restore staff and funding to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the face of devastating federal cuts. Created by the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health Act, NIOSH is the agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is responsible for conducting research and making recommendations to prevent work-related illnesses and injuries. Reductions to NIOSH personnel planned by the Trump administration will leave “only a fraction of its original workforce to manage select programs,” said AIHA CEO Lawrence Sloan. “The proposed reductions effectively end the institute's ability to conduct essential research and provide guidance.”

AIHA—the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—has released findings from a 2024 survey of its membership base, affiliated academic universities, and partner associations focused on hiring trends, training support, and retention/recruitment challenges, including the average number of new OEHS hires anticipated over the next three years. The results reveal key issues on the current state of and future demand for the OEHS profession in the United States. This is a follow-up survey to a more extensive assessment conducted by NIOSH in 2011 titled “National Assessment of the Occupational Safety and Health Workforce.”

A recent study indicates that traditional methods for assessing worker exposure to hazards, which often rely on professional opinion and experience, may underestimate risks to workers. To better protect workers and communities, leading occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals are advocating for advanced risk-assessment techniques that incorporate statistical tools and other approaches into their daily practices through the new “Improving Exposure Judgments” initiative.

Over 45 years ago AIHA—the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—realized the worker safety gap created by the lack of clear occupational exposure limit (OEL) guidelines for the workplace. Motivated to fill this need, the Workplace Environmental Exposure Levels (WEEL) Committee was born.

In response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the southern and mid-Atlantic areas of the United States, AIHA—the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—has donated $5,000 to the American Red Cross in support of relief efforts. 

AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS), is embarking on two initiatives that will advance the OEHS profession in developing nations. The first initiative is a partnership between AIHA and the Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA), Workplace Health Without Borders-U.S. Chapter (WHWB-US), and the Board of Global EHS Credentialing (BGC) that will assist qualified OEHS technologists in developing nations. The second, a delegation to Vietnam led by AIHA President Nicole Greeson, MS, CIH, will allow AIHA members to meet with their counterparts and visit their facilities. Both efforts help AIHA realize its vision of a world where all workers and their communities are healthy and safe.

As Summer 2024 shattered heat records and the early fall forecast predicts above average temperatures to continue in large areas of the country, countless outdoor workers face significant health risks from heat hazards on the job. To address the increased risk of heat illnesses posed by rising temperatures, AIHA —the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—announces the availability of its new free “AIHA Heat Stress Mobile App.”

AIHA—the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS)—will welcome leading international experts from several fields, including occupational health, toxicology, risk assessment and communication, dermatology, product stewardship, consumer fields, and more to the ninth Occupational and Environmental Exposure of the Skin to Chemicals (OEESC) Conference this September 23-25 in Dulles, VA. The first OEESC conference was sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and took place in Washington, D.C. in 2002. Most recently, the conference was held in Dublin, Ireland, in 2019. As an international conference, OEESC has occurred largely in Europe or Canada since its 2002 debut. The exchange of information between the multidisciplinary participants over the past two decades has enabled significant steps forward in the prevention of ill health due to skin exposure. For the 2024 conference, AIHA felt compelled to host the experience stateside and continue the advancement of worker safety as it relates to skin exposure. The American Chemistry Council (ACC), Insight Exposure and Risk Sciences Group, and Peter Greven US Corporation have partnered with AIHA for the event.

AIHA, the association for occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals, welcomed its new Board of Directors for the 2024-2025 term on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, during AIHA’s annual business meeting held during the AIHA Connect 2024 conference in Columbus, Ohio.

With experts predicting Summer 2024 will shatter heat records across the country, countless outdoor workers are facing significant health risks from heat hazards on the job. To address the increased risk of heat illnesses posed by rising temperatures, AIHA – the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) – announced the availability of its new “AIHA Heat Stress Mobile App” during its Open Beta testing phase this summer.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and ASHRAE have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizing the organizations’ relationship.

A leading health and safety organization, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), is launching a new season of the inspiring docuseries "Healthier Workplaces, A Healthier World." This multi-episode series explores the fascinating world of Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS), showcasing its impact on keeping workers healthy and safe.

AIHA is pleased to announce the companies sponsoring its annual conference, AIHA Connect 2024, to be held May 20-22 in Columbus, Ohio. This year’s sponsors represent a wide range of industries and have unique opportunities to reach professionals from every sector of occupational and environmental health and safety.

Jim Morris, award-winning author, journalist, and founder of Public Health Watch, will present the 2024 Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture during AIHA Connect, the annual conference and expo for occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals hosted by AIHA. Morris’s talk, titled “The Silicosis Epidemic,” describes the nation’s largest modern workplace cluster of silicosis, discovered in artificial-stone fabricators in Southern California. The lecture is scheduled at 3:15 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, May 20, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.

AIHA is pleased to announce the companies recognized as 2024 Hamilton Club members, the Association’s exclusive partner program. Accessible by invitation only, this program is comprised of industry organizations that support AIHA's initiatives on the highest levels across many platforms through sponsorship, advertising, Foundation support, and beyond.

As more employers are examining their workplace health protocols to minimize the risk of airborne infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections, AIHA – the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety in the workplace and community – announced the launch of a comprehensive new resource that employers and employees can utilize to address current, and future, health threats.

Workplace injuries extract a steep toll on workers’ health and safety and companies’ bottom lines. According to the National Safety Council, the total cost of work injuries was $167 billion in 2021 alone. To help insurance industry clients, brokers, and carriers anticipate hazards and mitigate risks in the workplace, occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) experts have developed risk-reduction resources that are now available for free via Healthier Workplaces’ Insurance Industry Resources. Healthier Workplaces is a program by AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring OEHS in the workplace and community.

In response to an unusually early and active start to the 2023 Canadian wildfire season, AIHA has made available resources to help the public protect itself from poor indoor air quality caused by wildfire smoke on the association’s Commit to C.A.R.E. website. Wildfire smoke is a health hazard that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn may irritate the eyes and respiratory system and worsen chronic heart and lung diseases. The tools offered on Commit to C.A.R.E. are free of cost. Home and business owners in particular may benefit from the assistance of these resources in improving air quality within buildings where they live, work, and do business.

Six professional health and safety associations have joined a growing number of employers formally pledging their support to a new nationwide program aimed to keep employees and communities safe from the ongoing threat of COVID-19, flu, and other infectious diseases. Since its launch in 2022, Commit To C.A.R.E. has attracted numerous businesses – as well as public health and occupational health and safety organizations – and provided them with free tools and resources to address these continued public health threats.

AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety in the workplace and community, announced the availability of new free public education resources on its Commit To C.A.R.E. (Community, Awareness, Responsibility, Equity) website thanks to continued funding provided through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / NIOSH. In late 2022, the CDC awarded AIHA $110,000 to develop additional materials that help businesses and communities address the ongoing public health threat from COVID-19 and be better prepared for future pandemics and epidemics.

Award-winning author, journalist, and educator Yanick Rice Lamb will give the 2023 Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture at 3:15 Pacific time on Monday, May 22, at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The lecture is one of the scheduled events for AIHce EXP, the annual conference for occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals hosted by AIHA. Lamb’s Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture, titled “Unintended Consequences: The Rubber Industry’s Toxic Legacy in Akron,” will examine how communities’ health, jobs, economic development, and neighborhood cohesion are impacted by deindustrialization, as well as how OEHS and public health professionals can work with journalists to protect citizens and their communities.

As some states reexamine their child labor laws in light of continuing labor shortages, AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) in the workplace and community, reminds teenage workers and their parents about workplace risks as they start their first jobs and the resources available to help keep young workers safe on the job.

In order to help employers and consumers manage their exposure to a variety of hazards at both work and home, AIHA – the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) in the workplace and community – announced the launch of its new website, Healthier Workplaces.

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As employers and businesses await the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on OSHA’s COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandates in the workplace, leading health organizations urge employers and employees to pledge to make their organizations and communities healthier and safer from COVID-19. Businesses and public health organizations have taken the Commit To C.A.R.E. pledge including: National Safety Council, Society for Critical Care Medicine, the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare, and Indoor Air Quality Association Australia, among others.

AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) in the workplace and community, has released the second edition of its guidance document, “The Role of the Industrial Hygienist in a Pandemic” (PDF). The AIHA Biosafety and Environmental Microbiology Committee originally published this guide in 2006 to address the then-recent SARS outbreak, and the second edition has been updated with information relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior editors Roger D. Lewis, PhD, CIH, FAIHA, and Robert D. Strode, MS, CIH, FAIHA, led the project, which received support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In consideration of the COVID-19 delta variant’s aggressive spread and potential to overwhelm hospitals and healthcare systems, AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) in the workplace and community, has issued a statement in support of vaccination as a key control strategy against COVID-19. As proper precautions must be taken to reduce transmission, hospitalizations, and death across the country, AIHA voices its support for employers who find innovative ways to encourage vaccination among workers or develop workable programs to mandate vaccination in the workforce where warranted.

AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) in the workplace and community, is pleased to announce revisions to its complete library of its Back to Work Safely (BTWS) guidelines. The new edition includes multiple updates, including reference to: current scientific evidence indicating that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is spread primarily by fine particle airborne transmission; the hierarchy of health and safety controls; and alignment with the CDC’s new recommendations regarding vaccinated individuals.