Novelist and poet Victor Hugo once said, “Inspiration and genius—one and the same.” It is in this spirit that AIHA invites you to tell us what motivates you in your journey through life. Whether you are inspired by your children, a hobby, or life-changing experience—we want to hear about it. In 50 words or less, share your passions, purpose, or fascinations with the rest of the AIHA community. New stories will appear weekly on our website. Send us your inspirational story today and you could end up “home page news!”
Send stories to Connie Paradise. Include name, company and phone number. For more information, contact Connie at (703) 846-0742.
“I believe that as industrial hygienists we have the ability to profoundly affect people’s lives in a meaningful and long-lasting way. As a young industrial hygienist conducting field sampling and health and safety training, I felt like I was impacting lives on an individual basis, which was very satisfying. Growing in experience and tenure, I now find my inspiration in working with organizational leadership to facilitate an ongoing conversation about health and safety and engaging company leaders in a meaningful way to express their true thoughts and feelings about why occupational health and safety is important. These conversations and personal discoveries ultimately find their way into policy and procedure, which impacts the entire workforce in a meaningful way. Perhaps more importantly, it impacts how organizational leadership views the purpose and value of industrial hygiene and elevates it beyond a regulatory requirement to a personal commitment to protecting worker health. I find satisfaction and inspiration in the belief that I can now impact whole organizations and bring value and ultimately improved health and safety outcomes for all employees. The immediate feedback from those in the workforce isn’t quite as accessible, but I know that I’m having an impact on many people’s lives. What a great obligation it is to practice industrial hygiene well and what a great privilege it is to be allowed to do so.” - Jeffrey W. Gifford, Enogex LLC
"Following my senior year of high school, I worked as a construction laborer for a large road construction contractor. During this job, I performed concrete cutting, asphalt cutting, asphalt milling, jack hammering and other associated job tasks. At the time, road construction management and many supervisors were still unaware of the risks associated with silica-containing dust creation. Although I initially began college in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dr. Neil Zimmerman, associate professor at Purdue University, convinced me in one conversation that I could make a difference in worker health by informing workers, quantifying exposures, and engineering new dust controls for road construction. I changed my undergraduate major immediately to industrial hygiene and, with the inspiration of Dr. Neil Zimmerman, Dr. James McGlothlin and Dr. Frank Rosenthal of Purdue University, I am now continuing my education in the industrial hygiene PhD program at Purdue. Five years later, the same construction company that I worked for as a laborer contributes significantly by participating and funding research to engineer dust exposures. I fully believe it was a few brief moments of selflessness such as small donations to fund the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation (AIHF) scholarship which helped me complete my degree, and the commitment of Dr. Neil Zimmerman that propelled all of this to occur. Even small contributions can make a very big impact!"
"Following my senior year of high school, I
Beauregard Middaugh, Purdue University, photographed after a day of asphalt cutting.
“My wife Barb has fairly significant hearing loss due to a head injury she received in a car accident years before we ever met. Nineteen years ago our first of two children was born, and her name is Lauren. When Lauren was about one year old she started speaking a few words, which is always a milestone in the life of the child and parents. Within days of Lauren’s first word she was developing a vast vocabulary, which amassed to four words. One evening, I was sitting in my recliner with Lauren in my lap. Barb was sitting on the couch no more than five feet away. Soon Lauren and I started exchanging words she already knew and then we started on a few new ones. After a short time, Lauren had increased her vocabulary by another two words. We hugged each other, laughed out loud, and celebrated the moment. With excitement I turned and looked at Barb who was staring at us with tears streaming down her cheeks. Barb immediately said, ‘I can see you two talking, but I cannot hear a word you are saying.’ As I stood up and moved over to Barb, I immediately understood what pain, suffering and loss of one of our most precious senses must be like for all hard of hearing people. As I embraced Barb, I promised myself to embrace this cause of hearing loss prevention. Barb’s accident was indeed life changing. Although her condition has nothing to do with noise, it is the end result of hearing loss that we as industrial hygienists strive to prevent in our jobs. Prior to that moment with Barb and Lauren, I had essentially thought about what I do for a profession as a job. I don’t have a job, I have a cause. Occupational noise-induced hearing loss is 100 percent preventable, and it should never happen. We can do this folks. We have the knowledge and skills to affect lives in a very meaningful way. Please join me and embrace this cause.”- Dennis P. Driscoll, PE, Associates in Acoustics, Inc.
"I contracted polio in August 1955 subsequent to refusal by my pediatrician’s office to administer the Salk vaccine following the Cutter incident in spring of that year. As a polio survivor, there is seldom a day that goes by that doesn’t remind me of the importance of primary intervention." - Steven H. Ahrenholz, Ph.D., M.S., CIH, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
“When my son asked me to home school him for high school, I suddenly found myself in a position with a steep learning curve ahead. I later realized that if I could tackle a 1,000-plus page college level World History text, then there’s lots of other things I could accomplish.”- Elizabeth Pullen, Clariant Corporation