Image Credit: Getty Images / HS3RUS

In 2021, AIHA began working on several ambitious initiatives intended to improve the science and practice of occupational and environmental health and safety. We can think of these initiatives as an application of the industrial hygiene framework to the profession itself: they allow us to anticipate and recognize weaknesses in professional practice, evaluate those weaknesses, control them by raising the level of our work, and confirm that we are, collectively, getting better over time. This post offers a snapshot of where each of these efforts stands at the five-year mark.

Defining the Science

With so many demands on their time, OEHS professionals may struggle to keep up with research that has the potential to improve workplace conditions. Similarly, to design practical studies, OEHS researchers need to know the challenges practitioners face on the shop floor. The entire profession benefits when these two core groups are aligned.

The goal of Defining the Science, a collaboration between AIHA and ACGIH, is to develop and maintain a national research agenda for OEHS based on continuous feedback between researchers and practitioners. Following several brainstorming sessions and the refining of ideas, the agenda was released in 2023 and updated in December 2025. In its “Practice to Research” section, the agenda (PDF) identifies needs for research on mercury detection on metal surfaces, the evaluation of emissions from thermal processes, Bayesian statistics, and exposure assessment methods for bone-conducting headphones, among other topics; the “Research to Practice” section summarizes recent developments that can influence workplace practices related to psychosocial disorders, heat stress, impulse noise, and other areas. A companion document, the Defining the Science Members Guide (PDF), has also been updated with information from online brainstorming sessions on dermal and surface sampling.  

The work of two current graduate students reflects how Defining the Science is already supporting research responsive to the profession’s needs. Kelsey Babik, MPH, CIH, a doctoral student at the University of Illinois Chicago, used ideas from the Defining the Science brainstorming sessions in her dissertation on equity in standards for personal protective equipment. Similarly, Ryan Hines, CIH, CHMM, a PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University, has conducted workshops to train users of Bayesian statistical tools.

Principles of Good Practice

In OEHS, compliance with regulations is the bare minimum. The Principles of Good Practice initiative is about going above and beyond compliance. PGP document vital practices that reliably protect workers and communities from unacceptable risks, elevating the performance of OEHS programs by providing a set of uniform targets that can be used in continuous improvement activities.

PGP are currently available for five areas: exposure assessment strategies, noise and hearing loss prevention, respiratory protection programs, Legionella and waterborne pathogens, and heat stress. These documents, plus an introduction to the initiative, can be downloaded from the AIHA website. Certain documents are also available in Portuguese, Spanish, and Canadian French.  

PGP on protective clothing and equipment, ergonomics, and mold are under development.

Improving Exposure Judgments

Inspired by research demonstrating that reliance on professional judgment alone produces poor results in exposure assessment, the Improving Exposure Judgments initiative helps OEHS professionals use statistical tools in their decision-making. A major focus of IEJ is the promotion of the AIHA Exposure Decision Analysis Registry Program, which distinguishes professionals who have acquired the skills and knowledge to effectively manage workplace exposure and monitoring data. Since the launch of IEJ, there has been an enormous increase in the number of OEHS professionals passing the EDA Registry exam. The program now includes 750 credentialled individuals, with approximately one-third based outside the U.S.

If you’re interested in learning more about IEJ, a series of short videos on the AIHA website are a great introduction to statistical tools and how you can benefit from using them.

State of the Art vs. Practice

This initiative focuses on narrowing the gaps between actual OEHS practices, as determined by surveys of professionals, and best-in-class OEHS practices identified in AIHA publications. For example, to characterize practices related to airborne chemical exposure assessment, AIHA distributed a survey in 2024 that gauged practitioners’ adherence to elements of the AIHA book A Strategy for Assessing and Managing Occupational Exposures.  

To date, AIHA has conducted surveys on occupational exposure assessment, noise, and respiratory protection, in addition to airborne chemical exposure assessment. The findings from these surveys are available on the AIHA website. A forthcoming survey will focus on thermal stress and waterborne pathogens.

Continuous Improvement Plan

The concept that keeps all four initiatives in sync is the continuous improvement plan, which identifies areas of weakness within OEHS practice, specifies time-based goals that indicate progress, defines actions to be taken in pursuit of those goals, and indicates who is responsible for each action. For example, the 2024 survey on airborne chemical exposure assessment found that only 35 percent of technical leaders received training on the AIHA exposure assessment strategy. The CIP has now established a goal for 75 percent of leaders to be trained on the strategy within five years. A follow-up survey planned for 2029 will track progress toward this and other goals.

We talk about the CIP as if it were a single plan; in reality, there are multiple CIPs corresponding to different areas of practice. More CIPs will be added over time. Materials related to our most developed CIP, for exposure assessment strategies, are available from the AIHA website. Two more CIPs, one for respiratory protection programs and another for noise and hearing loss protection, are coming soon.

Get Involved

These efforts wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of a multitude of volunteers. In addition to the advisory groups that lead each initiative, dozens of members have participated in brainstorming sessions and offered vital feedback. Thanks to everyone who has contributed, and if you’d like to get involved, keep an eye out for new calls for volunteers.