AIHA Updates Guide on Pandemic Role of OEHS Professionals, Adds Resources for Healthcare Workers and Management

The new edition also provides resources for healthcare workers, and management to protect workers in the case of a pandemic

FALLS CHURCH, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) in the workplace and community, has released the second edition of its guidance document, “The Role of the Industrial Hygienist in a Pandemic” (PDF). The AIHA Biosafety and Environmental Microbiology Committee originally published this guide in 2006 to address the then-recent SARS outbreak, and the second edition has been updated with information relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior editors Roger D. Lewis, PhD, CIH, FAIHA, and Robert D. Strode, MS, CIH, FAIHA, led the project, which received support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The updated guide includes practical information that will be useful in responding to future pandemics, in addition to providing guidance for OEHS professionals engaged with the ongoing COVID-19 response. “This [future utility] is considered throughout the document,” said Strode, “especially in the exposure assessment and the controls sections using the source, pathway, and receptor control paradigm.”

The source-pathway-receptor model, outlined in the new version of the document, reframes the traditional OEHS hierarchy of controls through a more flexible approach suited for the transmission of infectious diseases. The second edition also adds a lexicon of terms and definitions and connects pandemic response strategies to the NIOSH-supported Total Exposure Health and Total Worker Health frameworks. Other new or updated sections include those covering exposure assessment, control and exposure banding, and sensors, analytics and tracking. Appendices on business shutdowns and reopening, special considerations for workers with pre-existing conditions, and a chart of industries with unique challenges have also been added or expanded.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, AIHA has supported OEHS professionals and industrial hygienists by providing clear, actionable steps for the prevention, early detection, and control of COVID-19 in a variety of workplaces. “The Role of the Industrial Hygienist in a Pandemic, Second Edition,” now includes useful information for professions outside of OEHS as well.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has required OEHS and non-OEHS professionals to come together to address the new and complex issues that have been brought forth,” said Lawrence D. Sloan, AIHA CEO. Therefore, while the guide is primarily intended for career OEHS professionals, Sloan said that it also “provides resources, information, and tools to advise and assist general workers, healthcare workers, and management to protect workers in the case of a pandemic.”

The second edition of “The Role of the Industrial Hygienist in a Pandemic” can be downloaded for free on AIHA’s website (PDF).

About AIHA

AIHA is the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety in the workplace and community. Founded in 1939, we support our members with our expertise, networks, comprehensive education programs, and other products and services that help them maintain the highest professional and competency standards. More than half of AIHA's nearly 8,500 members are Certified Industrial Hygienists, and many hold other professional designations. AIHA serves as a resource for those employed across the public and private sectors, as well as to the communities in which they work. For more information, please visit www.aiha.org.