AIHA Calls on Health Organizations to Endorse New Public Education Initiative Aimed at Preparing Buildings against the Spread of COVID-19 and Other Airborne Diseases

OEHS Scientists Rally Professional Associations to Share Vast Library of Free Resources Developed for  Employers to Keep Employees Healthy

AIHA, the association for scientists and professionals committed to preserving and ensuring occupational and environmental health and safety in the workplace and community, in partnership with IBEC, The Integrated Bioscience and Built Environment Consortium, launched  Commit To C.A.R.E., a new public education initiative that encourages employers and employees to commit to reducing the risk of COVID-19 in the workplace and communities. The initiative, funded by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Control and Prevention (CDC), comes on the heels of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing that mandates vaccination in the workplace.

AIHA urges organizations to become a Commit To C.A.R.E partner by taking the pledge to help make their building, organization, and community healthier and safer from COVID-19. Leading health organizations that have taken the C.A.R.E. pledge include: The National Safety Council, the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare, and Indoor Air Quality Association Australia, among others.

Commit To C.A.R.E. (Community, Awareness, Responsibility, Equity) strives to debunk myths about the spread of the COVID-19 virus, make the complexities of the science easier to understand through no-cost, engaging multi-media tools available in nine different languages, help prepare facilities to against airborne viruses, and encourage businesses to pledge their commitment to C.A.R.E. for the health and well-being of their employees, clients, and customers.

The comprehensive resources, designed in non-technical terms, include micro-training videos, checklists and webtools designed to assess an individual’s risk, a web-based interactive assessment tool, videos addressing why masks work and how to wear them, what is ventilation and why it’s important to reduce the risk of transmission, how to develop a vaccination and testing policy and more. The free resources also include downloadable posters and fliers for use in the workplace. For more information about becoming a C.A.R.E. Partner, or accessing free multimedia resources such as checklists, posters, flyers, videos and to take the C.A.R.E. pledge, visit: Commit2Care.org

“Both employers and their employees play a role in keeping their work environments and communities safe. While vaccination is one way to reduce the transmission and severity of COVID-19, there are other steps organizations should take to mitigate its spread and protect what matters most — people,” said AIHA CEO Lawrence Sloan. “Commit To C.A.R.E. resources include the most comprehensive tools that employers and employees can use to better understand their risk and take action to protect themselves and others,” he added.

“The resources included in Commit to C.A.R.E. align to most of the topic areas within the OSHA ETS and help create a common understanding of the issues across the workforce, building a solid framework for more detailed training within an organization,” said Kenneth Martinez, Chief Science Officer at IBEC. “The resources go one step further by targeting the content specifically to key industries: general business, healthcare, and long-term care facilities,” he added.