Take a minute to view our latest newsletter (snippit below) -- read / download here: Newsletter
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On February 21, 2023, the AIHA Pittsburgh Section and the Slippery Rock University AIHA Student Section co-hosted the February AIHA Pittsburgh Section meeting with guest speaker Mr. Tom Blank at the Strain Safety Building. The Meeting was opened by AIHA Pittsburgh Section President-Elect Mr. Dane Micheson, CIH CSP, CHST, who welcomed the attendees and updated the group on upcoming AIHA Pittsburgh Section events. Mr. Tom Blank, CIH, CSP, FAIHA and EHS Consultant, gave the group excellent advice and guidance pertaining to successful job searches, resume writing and interviewing skills. This meeting also allowed the IH professionals in attendance to give the students great suggestions for success in their chosen career. The meeting also gave each group a chance to network before and after the presentation. The students got a chance to talk directly with Industrial Hygiene professionals in the field. After the session, Dr. Angela Bernardo and Dr. Rona Smeak, SRU AIHA Student Section Faculty Advisor gave the professionals a tour of the Strain Safety Building. Lunch was provided by the SRU Safety Department Chairperson Dr. Joseph Cali. Thank you to all participants below who helped to make this event a great success!
 The AIHA Pittsburgh Local Section has six committees that are chaired by a volunteer appointed by the chapter’s president or, in the case of the Program and Nominating committees, designated to an Executive Committee member:
Currently, most of our committees are unfortunately committees of one. We would like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to consider volunteering to lead or participate in a committee of interest. Benefits of Committee Participation
Our LS chapter and affiliated student chapters survive and thrive by the involvement of our members, so please do your best to stay active and contribute to the success of AIHA Pittsburgh. If you are interested in leading or participating in any of our committees, please reach out to the Executive Committee via email to info@pittsburghaiha.org.
 After a few years hiatus, the WVU section of AIHA is active again! The organization is officially recognized by both AIHA and WVU Student Engagement, allowing the student group to connect students with local OEHS professionals. In addition to industrial hygiene students, the club has seen interest from industrial engineering students and hopes to host networking and educational socials for students and community members from a variety of disciplines. The organization is led by Ryan Titus (President), Emily Smith (Vice President), Sada Wright (Secretary), Cole Cantor (Treasurer), and Dr. Sergio Caporali (Faculty Advisor). WVU AIHA hopes to see some of you at one of their events sometime soon!
Thank you, Ryan Titus, Chapter President  The Pittsburgh AIHA is pleased to welcome new 2023 Corporate Sponsor, Atlas Technical Consultants! Atlas provides professional testing, inspection, engineering, environmental and consulting services from more than 100 locations nationwide. We deliver solutions to both public and private sector clients in the transportation, commercial, water, government, education and industrial markets. With over 500 industrial hygienists, 22 Certified Industrial Hygienists and 12 Certified Safety Professionals, we are able to provide EHS solutions throughout the United States.
Welcome to the following employees of Atlas - also NEW members to the Pittsburgh AIHA: Jarred Chase, CIH, CSP attended Gannon University in Erie, PA where he graduated with a BS in General Science in 2014 and a MS in Environmental Health and Engineering in 2016. After switching his major multiple times, he took an Environmental Toxicology class during his junior year that peaked his interest and helped propel him towards a career in EHS. He has attained both the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) designations and hopes to continue to grow his knowledge in the field of Industrial Hygiene & Safety. Chuck Kisamore, CSP attended Slippery Rock University where he graduated in 2015 with a BS in Safety Management. Since graduation Chuck has worked in different remediation, demolition, and manufacturing settings giving him a wide range of experience and knowledge in the fields of safety and industrial hygiene. Currently he holds the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) designation and is working towards his Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH).  With a variety of scholarships available (Pittsburgh AIHA Scholarship is just one!), students in undergraduate and graduate degree programs that lead to a career in industrial hygiene can find varying levels of awards and assistance to further their educational opportunities. See the details HERE:
https://www.aiha.org/get-involved/aih-foundation/aih-foundation-scholarships PITTSBURGH AIHA SCHOLARSHIP INFO: https://www.aiha.org/get-involved/aih-foundation/aih-foundation-scholarships/pittsburgh-local-section-scholarship APPLICATION / ELIGIBILITY: https://www.aiha.org/get-involved/aih-foundation/aih-foundation-scholarships/aih-foundation-scholarships-application-eligibility  Registration is now open for the first joint Pittsburgh AIHA and Slippery Rock University (SRU) Student Chapter Event. This is an in-person event at Slippery Rock University offering professionals a chance to network with the future professionals of our chapter:
 Our local section depends on its members to volunteer for positions on the executive committee. Serving on the committee is a great way to become more involved in the local section, and you can claim certification maintenance (CM) credit toward your CIH. We are currently asking for nominations for next year’s committee (serving July 2023 -June 2025):
NOTE: The American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) allows you to claim certification maintenance (CM) credit annually for local section office: local section President – 1 point; local section Officer or Director – 0.5 points. If you would like to volunteer for elections or nominate someone, please contact Laura Allen or Christy Kirsch ASAP. A short bio and statement of intent along with a photo are due by February 28, 2023.  The Pittsburgh AIHA is proud to once again sponsor student awards at the 84th Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair (PRSEF) which will celebrate another year of open competition of research projects in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering in March. This competition is open to all students in grades 6-12 from the 21 counties within Western Pennsylvania and Garrett County, Maryland.
The Fair will be held at the Carnegie Science Center this year. The Fair will be held over two days this year to allow for all student participation. Each year, the Pgh. AIHA sponsors two $500 awards - we need members to participate as judges. As a judge, you will help to choose the recipients of our LS Awards. To register to be a SPONSOR JUDGE, please go to www.STEMisphere.org/PRSEF. The Science Fair has been a Pittsburgh tradition since 1940. It is also the third oldest science fair in the United States under the affiliation of Society for Science, which runs the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and the Broadcom MASTERS middle school competition. For more information, please visit pittsburghsciencefair.org or email PRSEF@CarnegieScienceCenter.org. Christie Orlosky, M.S.Ed. Carnegie Science Center STEM Competitions Coordinator (412) 237-1534 PRSEF@CarnegieScienceCenter.org During the 2022 Pittsburgh AIHA Election, Kate Crott was selected as Director for a 2-year term. Due to a job change and relocation, Kate was unable to fulfill her duties, leaving a vacant Director position. The Executive Committee is happy to announce that Darrick Bertig, CIH, CSP, CUSA, MS, Industrial Hygiene Representative for FirstEnergy, will fill the vacant Director position on the Executive Committee through June 30, 2024. Darrick has been a long-standing member of the Pittsburgh AHA and currently serving on the Program Committee.
Eighteen members of the AIHA Pittsburgh Local Section attended the “Performance of APR Cartridge/Canisters Against Airborne Contaminants” Presentation with a tour of MSA. The technical presentation was given by Zane N. Frund, Ph.D., CIH, MBA who is the Executive Director & Global Leader of Materials/Chemical Research & Sensor Development at MSA. Dr. Frund provided the attendees with insight only he could give. His knowledge of the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard, NIOSH Respirator Approval Process, and Respirators in general was on display for everyone to witness. Whether you were a seasoned CIH or a current student, you walked away from Dr. Frund’s presentation with something you did not know before it.
Following the presentation, Marc Stempka who is the Public Relations Manager for MSA Americas gave a tour of the gas detection manufacturing area. Attendees got to see the entire manufacturing process for these instruments as well as the different types of product lines currently being made by MSA. These product lines ranged from fixed gas detection systems to handheld direct-reading instruments and everything in between. The tour concluded in a museum area where current safety products and historical ones were being displayed. Overall, the AIHA Pittsburgh Local Section would like to thank Dr. Frund, Mr. Stempka, and the entire MSA Team for hosting such a phenomenal event. We would also like to thank the following members for attending:
 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.
 Registration is now open for the first Pittsburgh AIHA Event of the NEW YEAR 2023 - this is an in-person event:
SPACE IS LIMITED TO 30 -- Register online HERE: 2023-01-13 MSA Presentation 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 Slippery Rock University AIHA Student Section leadership changed slightly this fall with Mr. Jacob Brand taking over President duties, while Ms. Hannah Roberts assumed the role of Vice President. They stepped up and did an outstanding job this past semester. We want to give a big thank you to outgoing President Reece Leotta for the excellent work he did for the past two years! Thank You Reece! On October 4th, Dr. Bernardo, Dr. Smeak (Faculty Advisor), and SRU Safety Management students; Annalyse Hoover and Hannah Roberts participated in the AIHA tour of the Carrie Blast Furnace. The day was beautiful and very informative. Well done AIHA Pittsburgh Chapter! The AIHA student section welcomed Michael McCaffrey, CIH, (pictured below) to campus in the Strain Safety Building, where he talked about his career as an Industrial Hygienist and gave students a glimpse into a day in the life of an Industrial Hygienist. Mike did an outstanding job and gave great advice to our students. Mike, thank you for your time and dedication! The semester ended with the SRU AIHA Student Section leadership working with the ASSP SRU Student Section leadership on a research project that will be conducted upon the return for the spring semester. Dr. Bernardo, Dr. Medford, and Dr. Smeak are the faculty assisting the research project. Lastly, the student section leadership is working on a tentative spring technical meeting with a tour of the NIOSH Center for Direct Reading and Sensor Technologies. For a group just getting back into the groove of in-class/in-person meetings, they are doing an outstanding job at reaching out to increase student membership and participation.
Welcome to new Pittsburgh AIHA member, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Paine, who graduated from high school in Pittsburgh, and after he retires from the Air Force next year he'll move back to the area to live in the Rachel Carson Ecovillage on Chatham University's Eden Hall campus. Mark has served as a Bioenvironmental Engineer in Colorado, South Korea, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, and for about 10 years in the Washington DC area. He's a CIH and has an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, a master of science in management, a master of science in industrial hygiene, and a doctor of science in emergency management. He warns that he can talk your ear off about the Department of Defense's IH program and he's looking forward to learning more about IH in Pittsburgh.
 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!
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:
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Now Collecting Member Dues 2023ATTENTION:
Pittsburgh AIHA Member Annual Dues If you are NOT a National AIHA Member, please pay through the Pittsburgh Local Section using the PayPal link below: 
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