OHS, we are public health!
You are an occupational health and safety champion if you:
- improve health and safety conditions in the workplace
- advocate for the rights of working people
- work to prevent disability, injury, and improve access to care and services
- know and advocate for anyone that has suffered from job-related illness or injury
- have interest in workplace reproductive hazards, ergonomics, child labor, rural settings and agriculture, hazardous chemicals, lead, noise, stress, workplace violence and international health
- are interested in regulatory and policy reform, workers' compensation and safe staffing
If you are or do any of these things (and so much more), membership in the Occupational Health and Safety Section is for you!
APHA gives us a voice in national and global debates on issues that impact the health of workers, our population and our planet.
Our Section is multidisciplinary.
- Our members include occupational health specialists, occupational physicians, nurses, community and public health workers, union organizers, occupational safety engineers and industrial hygienists, health educators, academic researchers, infectious disease professionals, healthcare administrators, epidemiologists, attorneys, journalists, and so much more.
We help determine APHA's occupational health and safety policies and priorities.
- Through Section-developed resolutions and position papers, our members have a voice in directly and indirectly influencing national public health policy.
- Recent Section-initiated resolutions have addressed risks related to workplace violence, lead exposure, occupational transmission of emerging infectious diseases, surveillance of occupational disease and injury, child labor, migrant labor, ergonomics, job stress and workers' compensation.
- We provide input concerning scientific and technical developments involving Section activities, advocacy, and expertise.
We plan and coordinate Section activities and events at the APHA Annual Meeting.
- Each year, the Section sponsors and co-sponsors about 40 sessions (oral, roundtable, poster), forums, social events, and business/planning meetings at the Annual Meeting.
We have a long and storied history of fighting for the health and safety of workers.