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June 1, 2023 / Cathy Hovde

Training a Global Team with AIHA’s Basic Principles Course

At Amazon, we have a leadership principle called Learn and Be Curious: that is, "Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves." As our workplace health and safety (WHS) team has grown to over 8,000 professionals, we wanted to ensure they had every educational opportunity available to continue learning. Recognizing the strength and expertise our partners bring—especially with training—we were immediately drawn to the AIHA Basic Principles of Occupational Hygiene Course in 2022.

We purchased a limited number of seats for this 10-hour virtual course, which provides a foundational understanding of OEHS topics to help our WHS team grow their knowledge and expertise. "The course focused on various methodologies to physical and environmental hazards that can affect the health and safety of our associates," said Ashley Drake, WHS design construction and startup program manager. "The information learned can be most effective when applied during the launch phase of a project, allowing program managers to own safety hazard mitigation from beginning to end. The course materials provided will strengthen and support our global team's service to our internal customers."

Due to the high demand for the course in 2022 and the overall positive feedback, we purchased additional seats for 2023. We're excited to continue to offer this course to WHS professionals throughout the company. This program dovetails with two other Amazon leadership principles, Invent and Simplify and Hire and Develop the Best, by leveraging already created, easily accessible, high-quality educational content to improve the knowledge of our global WHS team. The course has received great reviews, and the team has requested more training.

For example, Lauren Turelli, the global WHS lead for reliability maintenance and engineering, described the course as "a great primer on all of the things that IH professionals encounter on a daily basis." She added, "It prepared me to understand their world and how I approach IH situations within my own scope of work. I really enjoyed the course."

The course is designed to be flexible and accessible with online classes that students can complete at their own pace. This makes it easier for students to fit the course into their schedules and gain the knowledge and skills they need to help advance their careers.

"I appreciated the flexibility of the course," said Clinton Evans, global WHS director for facilities engineering and construction. "I am on the road for work, and I was able to complete sessions as my schedule allowed. The course content is easily accessible. It helped me refine my on-the-job IH knowledge with high-quality instruction that included case studies and quizzes."

Overall, the Basic Principles Course provides students from a variety of backgrounds with a wide range of understanding of the occupational hygiene field. It's an excellent choice for anyone looking to enter the field or expand their awareness of occupational hygiene.

Cathy Hovde

Cathy Hovde, CIH, CSP, is global senior industrial hygiene manager at Amazon.