DEPARTMENTS
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
JOHN MULHAUSEN, PhD, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, retired in 2018 from 3M where he worked for 31 years in a variety of global health and safety risk management roles, most recently as director of corporate safety and industrial hygiene.
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Making Research Work for Practitioners
BY JOHN MULHAUSEN, AIHA PRESIDENT
This month, AIHA and ACGIH launch our Defining the Science initiative, the first step in creating an OEHS research agenda. Our vision is to establish a mechanism that captures information about workplace health and safety needs, refines these issues into research questions, identifies researchers and funders who can bring projects to fruition, and matches these projects with workplaces that can benefit from them. In essence, the Defining the Science initiative is intended to initiate partnerships between practitioners and researchers to stimulate research that is guided by workplace needs and results in practical guidance for the shop floor to improve the protection of workers and communities. I think of it as P2R2P: practice to research to practice, a cycle of continuous improvement.
By formalizing a system for generating research that addresses workplace problems, our Defining the Science initiative is a significant step forward for the profession.
Figure 1. The P2R2P process.
To give practitioners an opportunity to explain the challenges they’re experiencing in the workplace that research can help solve, we’re inviting all members to participate in an online brainstorming session. To accommodate as many participants as possible, the session will be held on both Tuesday, Sept. 21, and Thursday, Sept. 23, from 2 to 5 p.m. ET.
DEFINING THE SCIENCE
Leading this project is the newly created Defining the Science Advisory Group, or DTS-AG, which comprises representatives from AIHA, ACGIH, and NIOSH. They will oversee the process (see Figure 1) for vetting ideas and routing them to the appropriate AIHA or ACGIH volunteer group for further development. DTS-AG will take an active role in managing the resulting research agenda and produce a list of research questions with potential partners as well as a list of barriers with potential solutions for posting to the AIHA website.
It’s possible that already-published research can help address workplace challenges, but practitioners simply aren’t aware of it. Similarly, there are likely some current OEHS practices that are not supported by research. In both cases, research could help improve workplace health if only it were communicated effectively to the people who need to know. Our process is designed to help surface this “hidden” research and get it into the hands of OEHS professionals who can use it to protect workers.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
By formalizing a system for generating research that addresses workplace problems, our Defining the Science initiative is a significant step forward for the profession. I hope you’re able to join our brainstorming session on Sept. 21 or 23, even if you just want to listen to the discussion. For instructions on how to participate, visit AIHA's website.