Given AIHA’s diverse membership and broad range of interests, organizing our public policy efforts can be a challenge. How do we ensure our activities are grounded in members’ experiences? How do we prioritize the many issues that have potential to affect the OEHS profession? What policy problems should our volunteers focus on?

To be sure, volunteers play an integral role in our approach to public policy. Advocacy is a collective effort by those who wish to engage directly in government relations and subject-matter experts whose interests align with a particular issue. These SMEs often sit on technical committees and other AIHA volunteer groups.

Additionally, AIHA relies on our advocacy partner, the What Works Institute, for help in determining a path forward regarding public policy. The What Works Institute recently worked with our volunteers to draft supporting documents for several of our top priority policy issues. These documents explain the importance of each issue, which AIHA volunteer groups are responsible for managing it, and what AIHA has done to advance it. The documents also summarize recent developments in public policy and legislation, identify industries whose workers are at high risk from hazards related to the issue, characterize effective workplace protection programs, and offer specific policy recommendations.

Over the years, we’ve used surveys to obtain members’ perspectives on public policy issues. The most recent of these surveys was conducted last year and identified ten priority issues. AIHA is focusing on the top five, which I’ve listed below in the order they were ranked by survey respondents:

1. Preventing heat-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths, managed by the Thermal Stress Working Group. Recommendations for stakeholders in our policy document (PDF) include establishing and enforcing clear regulations; improving education, training, and awareness; and fostering innovation in protective technology.
2. Disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, managed by the Incident Preparedness and Response Working Group. Our policy document (PDF) discusses ways that public policy can integrate industrial hygiene and safety professionals into emergency management, expand disaster communication systems, and promote proactive mitigation in high-risk facilities, among other recommendations.
3. Workforce development/OEHS professional pipeline. Management of this issue, which affects our entire organization, could be shared by multiple volunteer groups such as our Membership Advisory Group, Teen Workplace Health and Safety Committee, and others. Our policy document (PDF) suggests how we can build awareness of OEHS careers among students and the public; expand OEHS education, training, and certification; strengthen the demand for OEHS expertise; improve school infrastructure; and engage OEHS professionals in mentorship.
4. Noise/occupational hearing protection, managed by the Noise Committee. Recommendations in our policy document (PDF) include updating and enforcing noise exposure standards, guaranteeing access to protective equipment, requiring individual fit-testing for hearing protection devices, and aligning policies with scientific consensus.
5. Toxic Substances Control Act, managed by the TSCA Advisory Group. These volunteers have led AIHA’s strategic response to EPA risk evaluations and other activities under TSCA. Read the policy document (PDF) for more information about this group’s activities.

The following issues round out the top ten identified by our survey. While we haven’t drafted policy documents for these issues, our public affairs page links to relevant AIHA documents whose subject matter aligns:

6. Indoor environmental quality.
7. Vulnerable, contingent, and temporary workers.
8. AI and automation in OEHS.
9. Professional title protection.
10. Child labor protections.

If 2025 has taught us anything, it is that public policy can change on a dime, potentially leaving a lot of ruin in its wake. For a retrospective on this year’s events, see my article in the current issue of The Synergist. Because of these changes at the federal level, AIHA and our partner, the What Works Institute, anticipate OEHS public policy efforts must be broadened to encompass state-level engagement in 2026 and for the foreseeable future.

To keep track of AIHA’s efforts at the state level, join our Government Relations community on Catalyst. And if you have specific expertise or interest in any of our public policy issues, I encourage you to join the relevant volunteer group to get involved. As always, we need—and greatly appreciate—your help.