Over the past six months I have been involved in the drafting of an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) voluntary standard for a Total Worker Health® (TWH) management system. I have felt fortunate to join a group of safety, health and well-being professionals, which includes Jack Dennerlein of the Center for Work, Health, and Well-Being and William Shaw of Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW), along with other safety and well-being experts.
The effort’s intention is to produce a voluntary standard that will assist organizations representing all sizes and industries as they implement a TWH approach. ASSP has been granted the exclusive right to develop the standard, and the team is working under both ASSP and ANSI guidelines. ASSP accepted applications early in the summer for individuals to sit on two committees, a writing group and an editing group. Our nine person writing group has formally been meeting as we create an initial draft of the document with the goal to have an initial version ready for review by the second group, the editing group, early in 2021.
Learn more about the process from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) December Total Worker Health® in Action newsletter. Additional review committee members are still being solicited. More information on the committee responsibilities and to request an application can be made to Lauren Bauerschmidt. The development of this standard will benefit by reviewers representing diverse organizations and industries.
Resources – Learn more about:
Total Worker Health
Oregon Healthy Workforce Center and the other Centers of Excellence for TWH
TWH Affiliates
Podcast episode on TWH
ASSP’s TWH webpage
