Industrial Hygienists, Air Quality, and Hazardous Chemicals
The Industrial Hygienist
Under the OSHA Act of 1970, OSHA develops and sets mandatory occupational safety and health requirements applicable to the more than 6 million workplaces across the country.
What is Industrial Hygiene?
OSHA relies on, among many others, industrial hygienists, or "IHs," to evaluate jobs for potential health hazards. More than 40% of OSHA's compliance officers are IHs.
Developing and setting mandatory occupational safety and health standards involves determining the extent of employee exposure to hazards and deciding what is needed to control these hazards, thereby protecting the workers.
Industrial hygienists are trained to anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and recommend controls for environmental and physical hazards that can affect the health and well-being of workers. Important IH responsibilities include:
- Identifying, measuring and analyzing workplace health hazards and exposures (chemical, physical, biological, ergonomic) that can cause sickness, impaired health, or significant discomfort.
- Recommending hazard control strategies to eliminate/reduce hazards and employee exposure to hazards.
The primary organization concerned with industrial hygiene is the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). AIHA is a nonprofit organization devoted to achieving and maintaining the highest professional standards for its members. More than half of the 10,000 members are certified industrial hygienists (CIHs), and many hold other professional designations. AIHA administers comprehensive education programs that keep occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) professionals current in the field of industrial hygiene. For more information open the AIHA Fact Sheet.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-1. Who is trained to anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and recommend controls for environmental and physical hazards that can affect the health and well-being of workers?
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