Membership dues for 2023 WAS due January 1, 2023.   If you are a National AIHA member, remember to check the box for Pittsburgh Local Section to include your LS dues of $25 for your Pittsburgh AIHA membership.  All NON-National AIHA members should pay dues directly to the Pittsburgh AIHA.  See the highlighted sidebar link on this homepage to process payment through PayPal -- Note you do not need a PayPal account to pay this way.  Any questions, please contact Christy at ckirsch@pittsburghiaha.org.   

The December newsletter includes a President's Letter from Lt. Tim Beck - please see snippit below, click the image for entire newsletter or click HERE to download a PDF:

The Executive Committee of the Pittsburgh AIHA will hold the winter local section business meeting via Teams.  All members are welcome and encouraged to join the meeting!
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2022 --- 10:00 AM to ~12:00 PM.

Register online:  Dec. 21 Registration - Business Meeting 

by Frank Pokrywka, Ed.D, CIH - Pgh. AIHA Treasurer / Historical Committee

Many Safety and Health professionals are natural born story tellers. Still after almost 50 years in this business one of my favorite things to do at conferences or during training classes is listening to or telling stories about events that happened on the job or in life. To me nothing makes more a lasting impression than hearing or remembering a good story. It may even trigger a response action that helps someone to have a safer day at work. 

With this in mind, our AIHA local section catalyst page, our new Historical Archive or the Pgh. AIHA quarterly newsletter would like to present some of these stories to our members. Perhaps an unexpected IH or safety discovery, a funny happening or a tragic event could be just the story someone need to read to if you are willing to share. 

As we all reflect on the events of this past year or from a working lifetime, please consider sharing one of your “stories” that means a lot to you or is something that you just can’t forget. Just in writing this piece, dozens of my stories have come to mind as I am sure will happen to you. As you write your stories, please keep them “relatively” short and avoid naming names or places that might prove hurtful unless essential to the telling.   My example is below (click the "read more" link).

Mark your calendar for our first event of the New Year 2023!  On Friday, January 13, 2023 MSA will host the Pittsburgh AIHA for a 1/2 day event.  Details are still being finalized, but the day will include:

• Location-MSA Corporate Center in Cranberry Woods, PA
• Presentation titled:  Filtration Performance of Air-Purifying Respirators against Airborne Contaminants -Some Fundamental Principles  by Zane N. Frund, Ph.D., CIH, MBA - Executive Director & Global Leader, Materials/ Chemical Research & Sensor Development
• MSA Facility Tour

Registration will open in the coming weeks.  

​Thanks to the following companies / members who have renewed their corporate sponsorship or advertising for 2023:

• Amazon (Matt Zock)
• AM Health and Safety, Inc. (Barry Momyer and Barb Cummings)
• Colden Corporation (Chris Wesley and Chrisy Walsh)
• FirstEnergy (Darrick Bertig and Michelle Baber)
• Intertek/PSI (Mike Kopar and David Christner)
• MSA (Zane Frund and Jillian Tilko)
• US Micro-Solutions, Inc. (Deanna Kiska and Becky Moran)

Support the Pittsburgh AIHA as a Corporate Sponsor!  The benefits of a Corporate Sponsorship contribution of $200 include:
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• 2 free individual Pittsburgh AIHA annual memberships,
• Pittsburgh AIHA Homepage sidebar logo link.
• 1-year listing on the Pittsburgh AIHA Corporate Sponsors page,
• 1-year listing on the Pittsburgh AIHA Consultants List page,
• Recognition in Pittsburgh AIHA local section newsletter. 

Corporate Sponsorship is renewable on an annual basis.  Visit the Corporate Sponsors Page for current sponsors and application information - You can sign up online, or print the form to complete and mail.

Ryan Titus
Welcome to Ryan who is from Virginia, but moved to Morgantown WV to study Public Health at WVU in 2018.  About a year into his program, he discovered Industrial Hygiene and knew that it was a field he wanted to study further. Ryan graduated with his undergraduate degree in May and began graduate school for Industrial Hygiene in August. So far, he has really enjoyed the program, especially the exposure sampling field trips. Ryan is looking forward to meeting members of the Pittsburgh AIHA at upcoming events!   
 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryantitus/​)​

Sam Huggins
Welcome to Sam who works as an Industrial Hygienist for CSC, Inc. in Pittsburgh.  Sam is a  2021 graduate from Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor of Science (BS) Degree in Safety Management.  Sam began building his industrial hygiene and safety experience through a summer internship at AGX Environmental Consultants in 2021. In 2022, Sam accepted an industrial hygienist position at CSC Inc. and currently plans to continue his path in that industry.
(https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-huggins-67a5b9200/)

The 2022 Rivers of Steel Tour was a great success -- Thank you to Frank Pokrywka for coordinating this fun event.  Check out photos from the event as well as a meeting summary.  Thank you to all who attended, members, guests and students!

See the review here:  Review-2022 Rivers of Steel Tour.

Visit the Rivers of Steel website here: ​https://riversofsteel.com/

There is just a snippit below, but you can continue reading / view the entire newsletter by clicking HERE:
​      https://static-promote.weebly.com/share/57b4c943-f9f0-4cfd-b4a5-651cf7d8c549

CLICK THE IMAGE TO READ MORE...........

Once again, the Pittsburgh AIHA will be an exhibitor at the 13th Annual MASHA Safety and Health Conference to be held on Thursday, October 27 at the Regional Learning Alliance in Cranberry Twp., PA.   This annual event is well attended by health and safety professionals representing a wide variety of companies in our area.  The MASHA conference is a great event for local college students too; Slippery Rock, West Virginia University, Theil, IUP are among the universities that are well-represented at this event!  

Pittsburgh AIHA Member / Treasurer, Frank Pokrywka (pictured with Sarmed Shareef at 2021 Conference) will promote our local section as he has done in previous years.  He has lined up a few members to assist throughout the event.  The National AIHA has provided a variety of conference "swag" to hand out.   Pgh. AIHA representatives do a great job of recruiting new members during this conference!  

Please see the website for all the details, agenda, speakers, exhibitors, etc. and to register online.  Hope to see you there!

The Pittsburgh AIHA is now collecting 2023 annual membership dues for Pittsburgh AIHA (due date of January 1, 2023).  The National AIHA will also begin their 2023 membership drive on October 1.  National AIHA members should be on the lookout for renewal notices from National AIHA.

IMPORTANT NOTES:  

• If you are a National AIHA member, remember to check the box for Pittsburgh Local Section to include your LS dues of $25 for your Pittsburgh AIHA membership. 
• All NON-National AIHA members should pay dues directly to the Pittsburgh AIHA.  See the highlighted sidebar link on this homepage to process payment through PayPal -- Note you do not need a PayPal account to pay this way.  
• If you are an existing Pittsburgh AIHA Corporate Sponsor, you will receive an email from Pgh. AIHA regarding renewal of sponsorship as well as the two individual Pittsburgh AIHA memberships included with Pgh. Corporate Sponsorship (DO NOT INCLUDE Pittsburgh AIHA dues if you renew your individual National AIHA membership).   
• If you would like to become a 2023 Corporate Sponsor, please see details on the page here: ​Corporate Sponsors

Any questions, please contact Christy at ckirsch@pittsburghiaha.org.

Thank you to Comprehensive Safety Compliance, Inc. (CSC) who recently signed up as a Pittsburgh AIHA Corporate Sponsor for 2022-2023.  Welcome to new Pittsburgh AIHA members Josh Rusko, President of CSC, Inc. and Industrial Hygienists, Adam Mitchell and Sam Huggins.

​CSC has been in business since 1984 and provides various Industrial Hygiene and Safety services, along with Environmental Management and Compliance services.  CSC also provides a full-service solution for SDS management and Hazcom compliance, through our proprietary online system called MOM. Feel free to reach out to Josh at jrusko@comprehensivesafety.com to welcome him to the Pittsburgh AIHA! 

To become a Pittsburgh AIHA Corporate Sponsor - see details HERE: Corporate Sponsors

Registration is now OPEN!  Space is limited to 30 for this event -
​REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 9/28/2022!
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The Pittsburgh AIHA did a Rivers of Steel Tour back in 2019 with great reviews!!  Plan to attend the event scheduled for  Tuesday, October 4, 2022 (9:00 AM to ~2:00 PM).  Online registration available through the Meetings page.

Babushkas & Hard Hats: The Steel Town Tour

This tour gets to the heart of the steel town story, getting to know the people, places and historic events that once made Pittsburgh the epicenter of steel production. Immigrants and migrants were drawn to the region as industry rose, bringing a rich collection of cultures and traditions with them as they forged new lives. Visits to the Carrie Blast Furnaces, The Bost Building, and Pump House root this tour in the Pittsburgh experience, and a special immigrant-inspired lunch elicits the smells and flavors of Grandma’s kitchen. 

The Tour includes:  the Story of Steel presentation at the Bost Building, a Battle of Homestead presentation at the Pump House and a story about the immigrant / migrant food culture at the Pump House—paired with an immigrant-inspired lunch, along with a two-hour Industrial Tour of the Carrie Blast Furnaces. 

On Wednesday, August 10 at 12:00 PM to ~1:30 PM, the Pgh. AIHA held the local section summer business meeting via TEAMS.  Thank you to all who attended.  Items discussed during this meeting were:
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 - Treasurer and Secretary reports
 - Local section committee updates
 - Local section scholarship 
 - Meeting topics / speakers / venues, etc.   
 - Student sections 
 - Corporate Sponsors/Advertisers 

SUMMER BUSINESS MTG. AGENDA:  2022_august_-_summer_business_meeting_agenda_final.pdf
WINTER BUSINESS MTG. MINUTES: 2022_january_winter_business_meeting_minutes.pdf 
(approved during Aug. 10 meeting).