Image Credit: Getty Images / Mohd Izzuan

Earlier this month, we learned the harsh news that staffing cuts will effectively dismantle NIOSH. Once the shock wore off, our first thoughts were with the dedicated workers at the institute whose careers have been disrupted. They, like so many OEHS professionals, view their work as a calling and are passionate about protecting workers. Having to abandon research, investigations, guidance documents, and other vital work they’ve undertaken is as much a personal loss for them as it is a general loss for us all.

These sentiments lead to our next concerns: the OEHS profession itself and the workers who depend on it. For so many years, NIOSH has been the world’s foremost research entity dedicated to occupational health and safety. Its work has influenced guidance not only in the United States but in many other countries. To mention just one example, the COVID-19 pandemic recently demonstrated the tremendous importance of the NIOSH National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory’s respirator approval process. As some practitioners have observed, replacing this essential function will be no small feat—and it is just one program among many whose shuttering will have consequences far into the future.

We simply cannot ignore what the loss of NIOSH means for AIHA and the broader implications for the profession. Our organizations have a long, rich history of mutually beneficial collaboration. Some of the education we offer is based on NIOSH work. Agency staff sit on our Board of Directors and serve on our committees and task forces. They speak at our webinars and conferences. Many are no doubt active in our local sections. They are a huge and essential part of our community.

For these reasons, AIHA moved quickly to launch our Restore NIOSH campaign, which offers an easy way for you to contact your elected officials and urge them to support the agency. Our VoterVoice tool is prepopulated with a template letter that summarizes the crucial importance of NIOSH. We also provide a separate document (PDF) with background information on the agency that you can use to customize your letter if you wish. By completing the form with your name and address, you ensure that your letter will be automatically delivered to your federal representative and both of your state’s senators. (I encourage you to check the box on the form inviting you to receive action alerts from AIHA; your voice will be needed again as we consider future campaigns.) Once your letter is sent, you will be invited to share it on your social media accounts.

AIHA is also working with our allies to amplify the message about NIOSH. We are one of 460 organizations to sign a “Friends of NIOSH” letter (PDF) asking the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to act decisively to preserve the agency. We are also circulating Representative Greg Landsman’s letter of support for NIOSH (PDF), which was signed by 125 members of Congress. Finally, we co-signed a letter (PDF) to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee submitted by the Intersociety Forum, a coalition of leading safety and health organizations dedicated to safeguarding workers while demonstrating that safety practices create a strategic advantage for businesses.

For NIOSH personnel and other federal OEHS workers who have lost their jobs or are facing termination, you can donate to support their participation at AIHA Connect in Kansas City. Attendance at the conference will help them stay up to date on developments in the profession, network with their peers, and participate in the Career Advantage job fair and networking events. Please consider donating to this cause if you’re able.

To succeed, our efforts will entail no small amount of persuasion. An agency as important as NIOSH would not be so threatened if its work were widely understood. Our challenge is to expand that knowledge among policymakers and their constituents, so they recognize the pivotal role NIOSH plays in disease prevention, and how its costs—the ostensible reason for eliminating the agency—pale in comparison to the benefits every American family derives from avoiding occupational diseases. For example, a RAND Corp. study from a few years ago estimated that three NIOSH efforts with costs totaling $5.1 million resulted in economic benefits valued from $338 million to more than $1.2 billion.

With data like these, we must draw attention to the story not only of NIOSH but of all occupational health and safety. We are at a critical inflection point for our profession; the political dynamics are changing before our eyes. Telling our story has never been more important than right now.

For more ideas on how individuals can help change policy, visit the VoterVoice website.