This is the second post in a planned series on AIHA’s strategic plan. Read the first post on SynergistNOW.

How can AIHA best use the resources it has developed over seven decades as an association? This is one of the key questions we’ve grappled with for the last few years. AIHA has produced cutting-edge research and best-in-class educational materials, including conference presentations, webinars, bodies of knowledge, ​and online and in-person courses, not to mention a trove of white papers, position statements, and official comments on legislation. But merely producing content isn’t the point; the content we create should be guided by an overarching strategy. This idea was incorporated into AIHA’s 2016–2018 strategic plan, which specifies a goal of “Increased impact on worker health through organizational focus on mission-critical content disseminated broadly to related professionals.”

The entity most responsible for guiding our content strategy is the Content Portfolio Advisory Group. CPAG is a national-level volunteer committee that evolved from the original Content Portfolio Management Team, which identified seven key emerging research priorities:

1. Hazard banding/OEL process

2. Sensor technologies

3. Global standard of care

4. IH value/business case development

5. Total worker exposure

6. Big data management

7. Emergency preparedness and response

More information on these priorities is available on the AIHA website. CPAG has been meeting monthly to review ideas for new research projects within these seven areas. CPAG also periodically reviews existing content to ensure that it is still relevant.

In addition to CPAG, other notable achievements related to driving and disseminating content include:

• A new Education strategy that prioritizes content development and dissemination.
• New learning formats implemented at AIHce, including hour-long session blocks, early and late night classes, etc.
• Planning is well underway for IOHA 2018. AIHA is honored to host our IH/OH colleagues from around the world September 24–26 for the first IOHA conference to be held in the United States. If you're interested in presenting, see the Call for Proposals.
• Encouraging our volunteer groups to review their scopes of work and identify allied organizations for future collaborative efforts.
• We initiated a review of all existing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to determine where AIHA can leverage the educational offerings of other organizations and market our own education to other audiences. We recently executed a new MOU with ASSE and have enhanced our alliance with the Occupational Hygiene Training Association​, which produces training materials for OEHS-related professionals. Specifically, AIHA is in the process of converting the OHTA W201 fundamentals course into an e-learning platform, which we feel would be of interest to IH practitioners worldwide, among others.

These accomplishments have laid the groundwork for several planned content-related initiatives in 2018. These initiatives include tracking our progress on our 7 content priorities; stimulating grassroots efforts in educating the public about industrial hygiene, perhaps by leveraging the Safety Matters and IH Heroes projects; hosting a successful IOHA conference; helping volunteers better understand their reciprocal relationship with CPAG; and generating ideas for increasing attendance at AIHce among younger professionals and students.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me​ with any questions and suggestions regarding AIHA’s strategic direction.