Content priorities are a critical component of AIHA’s strategy for ensuring organizational success and relevance into the future. Likewise, understanding these content priorities can help shape strategies for individual career success and globally promote the relevance of the industrial hygiene profession in the marketplace of tomorrow. This blog answers key questions about AIHA’s content priorities and suggests ways to apply them.

What is a “content priority”?

Content is considered any offering produced in conjunction with AIHA for use by members or nonmembers—for example, publications, webinars, Professional Development Courses (PDCs), conferences, JOEH and Synergist articles, and so on. Content priorities are concepts or themes that have been identified as having the greatest impact on the value of AIHA’s content.

How are content priorities determined?

AIHA works with outside professionals to conduct research on the global trends most likely to impact the industrial hygiene profession in the future. This research, along with internally gathered data, is used to conduct a series of surveys and focus groups involving both AIHA members and nonmembers. The Content Priority Advisory Group (CPAG) reviews this data and recommends a set of content priorities for approval by the AIHA Board. This process occurs approximately every five years, with at least annual “pulse checks” to ensure the selected priorities remain the most relevant.

How are content priorities used?

AIHA content priorities are promoted to help volunteer groups and other contributors generate content ideas with increased potential for impact on the industrial hygiene industry and with associated stakeholders. Content priority concepts can be incorporated into any variety of technical subject matter content to make the material more robust and relevant to the trends, challenges, and needs found in the social and business environment in which we operate. In addition, content can be developed that is focused on the content priority itself, to help industrial hygiene professionals understand how to adapt and respond to the global trends affecting their careers.

What are the current AIHA content priorities?

AIHA is currently focused on five content priorities: Big Data and sensor technology, total exposure health, exposure banding, communicating IH concepts, and serving the changing workforce. A discussion of each of these priorities, and the future trends influencing them, can be found on the AIHA website.

In addition, “dashboards” for each priority contain vision statements of desired future states, ideas for potential content initiatives, and information regarding initiatives in progress or completed. The dashboards can be found on the CPAG web page.

Engagement in volunteer activities focused on these content priorities is an excellent way to increase personal understanding of the issues and create additional opportunities for career growth and networking. Contact Stacy Calhoun to get involved.