“Industrial hygiene is both a science and an art. It encompasses the total realm of control, including recognition and evaluation of those factors of environment emanating from the place of work which may cause illness, lack of well-being (emphasis added) or discomfort either among workers or among the community as a whole.” Source: 1973 NIOSH text, “The Industrial Environment — Its Evaluation & Control.”

The definition of IH has evolved over the years, most notably adding words such as anticipation, recognition, and confirmation. Regardless of the definition source, the word “well-being” has helped to define IH from its earliest days to the present. Additionally, IH is known internationally as “occupational hygiene.” The International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA) also includes the word “well-being” in its definition.  

What is well-being?

Webster’s dictionary defines well-being as “the state of being happy, healthy, or prosperous.” The American Psychology Association defines well-being as “the state of happiness and contentment, with low levels of distress, overall good physical and mental health and outlook, or good quality of life.” ISO 45003:2021 Occupational health and safety management — Psychological health and safety at work: managing psychosocial risks — Guidelines, defines “well-being at work” to mean the “fulfilment of the physical, mental and cognitive needs of a worker related to their work.”

Future of work is well-being

In February 2022, researchers from NIOSH published an editorial in the “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.”1 The editorial explored the promising approaches to the future of work in the USA. Historically, OSH has been viewed as the primary mechanism to protect people at work. NIOSH’s editorial made clear that the future of work must be viewed as OSH and well-being. 

Well-being should no longer be considered as a supplement to OSH or a word that helps to define a concept such as industrial hygiene. Well-being must now stand equally with OSH as necessary to protect people from workplace hazards. Well-being tools such as “NIOSH Well-Being Questionnaire (WellBQ)”2 must now be considered as important and used routinely as a workplace safety and health audit.

Learning and application

Well-being is no longer an occasional training topic at OSH conferences. The topic is growing in popularity, as well it should. Well-being, however, is still a fuzzy concept. People in HR and other management positions have their own beliefs of what well-being means and how it should be managed. HR metrics, for example, include employee satisfaction surveys, engagement scores, absenteeism rates, turnover rates, and rates for participation in wellness programs, are just a few examples. OSH metrics such as NIOSH WellBQ are joining the database of information and hopeful effective application.

Consensus study

New and ongoing studies are helping to refine the recognition, evaluation, and control of factors that encourage and support well-being. The December 2025 study “Towards a Taxonomy of Positive Mental Health: A Delphi Consensus Study” 3 is a prime example. The study is the first to achieve an international consensus of what constitutes “positive mental health” or well-being.

Using the Delphi Technique, 122 global experts from 11 disciplines identified 19 dimensions of well-being. Six dimensions that exceeded 90% agreement are: 

1. Meaning and Purpose
2. Life Satisfaction
3. Self-Acceptance
4. Connection
5. Autonomy
6. Happiness. 

The high degree of agreement among these dimensions will spearhead how experts identify if well-being is mostly achieved.

Safety

“Sense of Safety” was included among the 19 dimensions of well-being that achieved a consensus of among the experts at 75% or greater. Safety, however, was at the low end of this range. Experts debated if Safety should be included as measure of well-being or treated mostly as a “driver” of well-being? Physical health, income, and housing, for example, were classified within the study as drivers of well-being, but they do not define well-being. The study suggested that future research needs to reinforce clear criteria on the safety question.

Learn more

Breaking down a research study into its meaningful parts is challenging for people who are not adept at this practice. Articles, such as this one, help identify and introduce a study’s impact on a particular population such as IHs and OSH pros. 

While glancing over an actual research study of interest remains a necessity, a best practice includes finding reviews of that study that are easy to digest. For the mentioned “Consensus Study” you may find value in an extended overview found in Neuroscience News.4 

For example, Neuroscience News defines the six dimensions of well-being that exceeded 90% agreement among experts to mean:

• Meaning and purpose – feeling life is worthwhile and goal-directed.
• Life satisfaction – overall evaluation that your life is good.
• Self-acceptance – positive and non-judgmental view of self.
• Connection – close, caring relationship with others.
• Autonomy – feeling in control of choices and self-expression.
• Happiness – Frequent positive mood and cheerfulness.

Help yourself

Does your practice as an IH or OSH pro enhance or hinder one or more of the six dimensions of well-being? While the practice of IH or OSH began with an emphasis on “industrial” the future has expanded to all manner of work wherever, whenever, however and whomever performs the work. Your work is not excluded from this consideration. Like the safety announcement for possible oxygen deficiency on an airline flight, you must take care of yourself first in order to take care of others later. Your positive well-being is a necessity to help ensure that you can help others.

Conclusion

Well-being is the future of work. Regardless of your level of understanding on this topic, an essential learning objective is a thorough review of NIOSH Publication No. 2021-110 (Revised 05/2024). See reference 2. Your choice of training topics at OSH conferences you may attend in the future should include one or more sessions on well-being. Well-being is the future of work.

References

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8834959/pdf/ijerph-19-01745.pdf
2. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2021-110/
3. https://www.bewellco.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Towards_a_Taxonomy_of_Positive_Mental_Health_A_Del_compressed.pdf
4. https://neurosciencenews.com/mental-wellbeing-definition-30496/