AIHA Responds to the British Occupational Hygiene Society

BOHS’ Faculty of Occupational Hygienists decided to look into the future of occupational hygiene and what occupational hygienists need to do to respond and adapt. As part of the exercise, BOHS contacted occupational hygiene colleagues in other countries to ask questions.

BOHS: What are the roles and responsibilities of an Occupational Hygienist in your country?

AIHA: In the United States, we refer to the profession as “industrial hygiene.” In many other areas of the world, the term used is “occupational hygiene.” For the purpose of this response, the terms will be used interchangeably.

In the United States, occupational medicine and occupational physicians are most often considered to be in a related but separate occupation from industrial hygiene. Industrial hygienists are professionals dedicated to protecting the health and safety of workers, the community, and the environment. They are highly qualified scientists and engineers who anticipate and design solutions to prevent health and safety issues. Industrial hygienists apply science to identify and solve health and safety problems in thousands of work settings and in the community. While industrial hygiene is considered a science, it is also an art that involves judgment, creativity, and human interaction.

Originally, industrial hygienists worked in factories and other industrial settings, but as society has changed, so has the definition of industrial hygiene. Today, an industrial hygienist can be found in almost every type of work setting, including:

• Factories and manufacturing plants
• Corporate headquarters or offices
• Government agencies
• Universities and colleges
• Consulting firms
• Independent consultants
• Hospitals and health care facilities
• Domestic and international locations

The duties and responsibilities of industrial hygienists typically include:

• Investigating and examining the workplace for hazards and potential dangers
• Making recommendations to improve the safety of workers and the surrounding community
• Conducting scientific research to provide data on possible harmful conditions in the workplace
• Developing techniques to anticipate and control potentially dangerous situations in the workplace and the community
• Training and educating the community about job-related risks
• Advising government officials and participating in the development of regulations and voluntary consensus standards to ensure the health and safety of workers and their families
• Verifying that workers are properly following health and safety procedures
• Recommending control measures for potentially dangerous situations in the workplace and the community

It is increasingly clear that industrial hygiene professionals are working across all of the environmental health, and safety disciplines.  For example, in our 2006 member survey, we see that industrial hygienists are spending only slightly more than half (52.4%) of their time in industrial hygiene. Members reported spending about a quarter (24.3%) of their time on safety in 2006 compared with 22.4% in 2003.  Similarly, members reported spending an eighth (12.6%) of their time on environmental areas in 2006 compared with 11.9% in 2003. Interestingly, the amount of time spent on “other” technical areas dropped only slightly from 2003 (12.8%) to 2006 (10.8%).

BOHS: What do you believe the roles and responsibilities of an Occupational Hygienist will be in your country in 10 years, time?

AIHA: We anticipate that the trend toward a more generalized occupational and environmental health and safety profession will continue. The role of an industrial hygienist will encompass the traditional functions as described above, with their focus and key strengths remaining on health, but they may also have a good level of expertise in environmental and safety aspects of the profession.

The traditional role of industrial hygienists will continue as a core competency of the profession. However, we anticipate that technology and related workplace environmental changes will outpace the development of new occupational exposure limits, necessitating that industrial hygienists place greater emphasis on practices that require professional judgment, such as exposure assessment, other risk assessment strategies, and the establishment of generic precautionary measures to protect workers.

BOHS: What do you believe is the one key factor that will make occupational hygiene thrive rather than survive in your country in 10 years, time?

AIHA: We are hopeful that the need for industrial hygienists will grow in parallel with new manufacturing technologies such as nanotechnology. We anticipate greater need in the area of emergency preparedness and response – whether for natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or public health crises, such as pandemic flu and methamphetamine lab cleanup.

AIHA has many programs designed to encourage young people to choose science- and engineering-based careers. The reason these programs exist is because we have identified future capacity of the profession as a strategic concern.  Our goal is to attract the best and brightest young minds to the profession. We believe that the programs we are pursuing will work.  We have a compelling story to tell, and the opportunities for young people are unprecedented.