In July, the AIHA Board of Directors approved our new strategic plan (PDF) for 2022–2024. While similar to its predecessor, the new plan has some key differences, which I’ll explore in forthcoming posts. Here, I’ll explain the process for creating the new plan and spotlight some of the high-level changes.

The new plan was drafted by a task force of individuals from various career stages, cultural backgrounds, and industries. The task force included Board representatives John Mulhausen, Nicole Greeson, Bernie Fontaine, and Kim Castillon; staff members Sue Marchese, Bethany Chirico, and myself; and AIHA members Stephen Gutmann, David Roskelley, Nancy McClellan, Joy Erdman, and Mwangi Ndonga. The AIHA members were identified through a call for volunteers.

Following a member survey conducted earlier this year, which I wrote about in a previous post, the task force recommended adjustments to various elements of the plan, including AIHA’s mission, vision, and core values. The task force also recommended the addition of a value proposition statement intended to help people outside the OEHS profession understand AIHA’s purpose.

Mission statement. The mission statement, which conveys AIHA’s reason for being, has been modified based on the task force’s recommendation to reflect a broadening of AIHA’s scope. Below, the new language added to the mission statement appears in bold:

Empowering and advancing those who apply scientific knowledge to protect all workers and their communities from occupational and environmental hazards.

Vision statement. This communicates the organization’s aspirations and is meant to convey a future-perfect state of being. Like our mission statement, the vision statement has been enhanced to reflect communities:

A world where all workers and their communities are healthy and safe.

Value proposition. This new addition to the plan provides a convenient message for members to reference when speaking to the press or others not familiar with the profession:

AIHA members are scientists and professionals who protect the health and safety of workers and communities by reducing risks and safeguarding operations to help organizations operate efficiently and without interruption.

Core values. While the essence of AIHA’s core values remains the same in the new plan, they have been rewritten to convey a more vigorous commitment. Our core values are:

• We prevent illnesses and injuries.
• We advocate and develop science-based policy and practice.
• We respect workers and communities.
• We support employers and workers.
• We respect our members.

A fuller discussion of AIHA’s core values appears on the “About AIHA” page.

The new strategic plan retains the previous plan’s “domains,” or focus areas. These are community, awareness, advancement and dissemination of knowledge, integrity of professional practice, and advocacy. Each domain consists of strategic objectives, along with supporting strategies. A set of quantitative key performance indicators in each domain helps the Board monitor our progress against the plan. In subsequent posts, I’ll discuss each domain in greater detail.

AIHA will launch an organization-wide communications plan to help generate awareness and drive engagement across our volunteer groups. In the meantime, I encourage all members to review the new plan. Your active commitment to the plan will help ensure AIHA continues to live our values, accomplish our mission, and achieve our vision of a world where all workers and communities are healthy and safe.