Corporate Industrial Hygienist
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Decatur, Ga.
I believe that most of our worker health
goals are directly reliant upon our ability to
influence senior leadership. Without executive sponsors, we industrial hygienists
face challenging obstacles. Eliminating
workplace illness will need sponsorship to
implement the deep change into the cultural fabric. The goals
positioned to realize this vision, albeit well intentioned, need to
be “smart”—specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and
time-bound.
Clearly, there is value in reducing worker illnesses. This is fundamental, but often, these efforts are not the sponsored priority
with key decision makers. It will require more than evidence-based data to support change. It will require influential leadership skills to demonstrate the business value in eliminating
illness. Business value includes human capital. Employees are
the most valued asset and are key to the success of a business.
The younger generations of workers are far more concerned
with compliance and a company’s conscience. They have
greater awareness and expectations of how a company conducts itself. I think the timing is perfect for industrial hygienists
and our associated science community to drive these changes.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) adoption is a new focus for
forward-thinking companies. CSR includes areas such as green,
sustainability, and wellness. AIHA can message this to our professional community and work to provide a framework for influencing thought leadership change to industries and smaller
businesses alike.
Assistant Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Ill.
Our association develops its strategic
plan on a five-year basis, which sets the
agenda for aligning AIHA activities toward the goal of supporting hygienists
and allied professionals in worker health
protection. This is an excellent objective
for a professional organization, and we do a good job of this.
But to eliminate workplace illnesses, we must expand our activities to fit a broader vision. AIHA must align its strategic objectives with those of other national organizations. The collective of
these professional organizations (likely through the International
Occupational Hygiene Association), in turn, must engage and
align strategies with the World Health Organization’s Global Plan
of Action on Workers’ Health, and the International Congress on
Occupational Health. This effort could establish priorities and
construct a road map to target resources and momentum to address specific occupational illnesses.
As AIHA members, each of us must establish a sense of urgency. We must elect to use terms like “risk management” only
in the near-term sense, and use words like “eradication” to describe the future. And we must become passionate about informing policy, with defensible arguments rooted in both social
justice and economic strength—to affect change on a grand
scale, history tells us this appeal to multiple priorities is the only
thing that works.
After this, the formula is straightforward in nature: pick a fight,
execute, then repeat.
Bylaws Amendment
A proposed amendment to Section 7 of the AIHA Bylaws would require a one-time proof of student status upon
application. Currently, students must submit proof of student status every year. The proposal requires approval by
two-thirds of voting members.
Current Bylaws Text
Section 7: A full-time student at the college undergraduate or graduate level may become a Student member
upon application and yearly submission of a statement
from his/her faculty advisor confirming status as a full-time student. Additionally, an undergraduate or graduate
student taking at least one-half the credit hours required
for full-time undergraduate/graduate student status may
also become a student member upon application and
yearly submission of a statement from his/her faculty advisor confirming the number of credit hours. Student
members who qualify as part-time students may continue as student members for a maximum of eight years
and graduate students members who qualify as part-time
students may continue as student members for a maximum of two years provided the required documentation
is submitted annually. A student member may not vote or
serve on the Board of Directors, but may serve as a non-voting member of a committee of AIHA.
Proposed Amendment
Section 7: A full-time student at the college undergraduate or graduate level may become a Student member
upon application and one-time submission of a statement from his/her faculty advisor confirming status as a
full-time student. Additionally, an undergraduate or graduate student taking at least one-half the credit hours required for full-time undergraduate/graduate student
status may also become a student member upon application and one-time submission of a statement from
his/her faculty advisor confirming the number of credit
hours. Student members who qualify as part-time students may continue as student members for a maximum
of eight years and graduate students members who qualify as part-time students may continue as student members for a maximum of two years. A student member may
not vote or serve on the Board of Directors, but may
serve as a non-voting member of a committee of AIHA.
