Hygienists define top priorities
January 17, 2003
Here are the top ten public policy issues of interest to environmental health and safety pros, according to a poll of American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) members:
Emergency response / Homeland Security - Assigning roles and responsibilities for EHS pros.
Updating permissible exposure limits (PELs) - A legislative fix is closer to being proposed.
Mold exposure, inspection and remediation - The media hype, lawsuits and rush to regulate puts a premium on sound scientific data and expertise.
OSHA reform / third-party workplace reviews - Republicans in Congress continue to be interested in the idea of privatizing or contracting out certain inspection functions.
Ergonomics - Training and technical assistance, not standards-setting, will be the national focus for the next several years.
Indoor air quality - Beyond mold, this is a long-standing issue for industrial hygienists.
Professional recognition / Title protection - One of the top policy issues since 1993.
Small business assistance - Can a program be developed with OSHA to provide small businesses with pro bono consulting help?
Injury and illness prevention plans - OSHA had dropped the idea of a standard, but some states have requirements and voluntary guidelines, in the form of management systems, that are becoming popular.
Laboratory accreditation - Accredited laboratories are the best way to ensure that test samples from food facilities, workplaces and homes are analyzed accurately.
