Apr 21, 2023

New Commit To C.A.R.E. Resources Deliver Innovative Indoor Air Quality Solutions for Safer Workplaces

IBEC

The Commit to C.A.R.E initiative

The Integrated Bioscience and Built Environment Consortium (IBEC) and The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), two leading organizations committed to promoting occupational and environmental health and safety, have collaborated to introduce new indoor air quality resources to enhance workplace safety from infectious diseases.

The indoor air quality resources

Theresources are now available on the Commit To C.A.R.E. website, a public education resource that provides a broad range of free, science-based materials to help businesses improve indoor air quality and communities combat public health threats such as COVID-19, flu, and measles. Thanks to continued funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / NIOSH, AIHA received $110,000 in late 2022 to develop additional materials and services that would assist organizations in addressing the ongoing public health threat from COVID-19 while also preparing for future pandemics and epidemics. Since 2021, the CDC grant through the NIOSH cooperative agreement has awarded AIHA a total of $620,000 in grants to create resources for the Commit To C.A.R.E. program.

The Commit To C.A.R.E. website offers resources in three categories: Risk Assessment Resources, Indoor Air Quality Resources, and Vaccines & Testing Resources. The Indoor Air Quality Resources comprise videos and knowledge products addressing the multiple health risks of poor indoor air quality.

These materials include tips to enhance the ventilation and filtration inside the built space for improved indoor air quality, guidance on choosing supplemental technologies for disinfection, and systems such as in-room air cleaners and germicidal UV light, with easy-to-follow formulas on how to determine the best technology for your space.

The new resources are available in English and Spanish. The rest of therisk assessment and indoor air quality video trainings are available in nine languages, including French, Vietnamese, and Mandarin. Additionally, comprehensive workplace and community resources from the CDC, IBEC, and AIHA are accessible on Commit2CARE.org.

“Creating easy-to-understand and implement educational resources camped firmly in science is critical to ensuring that workers and customers can stay healthy and better protected from airborne infectious diseases,” said IBEC’s Chief Science Officer, Kenneth F. Martinez, CIH. “Our collaboration with AIHA on the Commit To C.A.R.E. initiative has resulted in a suite of easy-to-understand educational resources for the public, which we hope will help to support and protect communities from the real threat of any infectious airborne disease.”