​AIHA is pleased to announce that registration for the annual American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo (AIHce EXP) is now open for the year 2022. Following two virtual conferences held 2020–2021, AIHce EXP 2022 will return as an in-person event held in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 23–25, 2022. The conference will also have a virtual component for participants who cannot attend the onsite events.

AIHce EXP offers a diverse menu of learning formats, including general sessions, lectures, poster sessions, interactive presentations, exhibitor learning pavilion sessions, and pre- and post-conference professional development courses. Industry professionals may also enjoy numerous opportunities to network with peers. The conference explores strategies, tools, and techniques to protect worker health worldwide. For more information, visit www.aihceexp.org.

Free webinars typically held the third Wednesday of every month from 3:00-4:00 PM (ET). 

EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) hosts this monthly public webinar series to translate EPA research and share research resources and information that are useful, practical/applied and available to meet research needs of states/territories and other entities, such as tribes, local governments, and communities. In addition, the EPA Tools and Resources Training Webinar Series provides in-depth overviews and step-by-step tutorials on popular EPA science-based models and tools. 

NOTE: Attendees have the option of receiving a certificate of attendance. Acceptance of certificates is contingent on organization requirements—EPA cannot guarantee acceptance. Closed-captioned recordings of the webinars are provided below for later viewing and as a training resource; certificates cannot be provided for viewing webinar recordings. Webinar dates and topics are subject to change.

​https://www.epa.gov/research-states/epa-tools-and-resources-webinar-series

New member - Alpine EHS, LLC - ​Catherine Crott  is an industrial hygienist with a CIH certification, BCSP Certified Safety Professional. She has experience with a wide variety of industrial hygiene and safety topics, including noise, ergonomics, confined space, respiratory protection, and asbestos. Catherine is an AHERA certified management planner, supervisor, and inspector, as well as NIOSH 582 certified.  She is currently in her last semester of her Masters of Science in Industrial Hygiene from Montana Technical University.

New member - Julia Badamo - Student at Ohio University with upcoming graduation in April 2022 with a degree in Occupational Health, Hygiene, and Safety, as well as a minor in Environmental Health Science. During Julia's 2021 summer internship she gained valuable experience in the field with Vertiv as a Health and Safety Intern. She am looking forward to start her career in this great field and joining the IH community professionally.  

New member - Fred McGuigan, MS, CIH - Risk Assessment Services, LLC - Fred has spent over 35 years in industrial hygiene after graduating from University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health in 1983. Experience includes work with private industry, universities, and government (military) in six different states. Has returned to Pittsburgh and is starting a consulting business with wife Nina. Primary focus is on workplace assessments.   

New member - Meghan Swanson, Ph.D., CIH has over 18 years of safety industry experience developing personal protective equipment and gas detection instrumentation.  Her expertise in the generation and verification of precise gas mixtures led to development of the MSA Optimair TL PAPR and MSA XCell catalytic bead sensor, and she was recognized as the 2021 Inventor of the Year by the Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association.  Meghan received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. 
  

Other new members who have recently joined the Pittsburgh AIHA include:

• Alexis Aiello
• Megan Schink
• Matt Kovach
• Shannon O'Brien
• Elizabeth Fernandez
• Troy Eustace
• Jared Smith
• Benjamin Weilerstein

According to the architect and futurist Buckminster Fuller, in 1900 the amount of knowledge doubled every 100 or so years. By the mid 1940s, it was every 25 years. Now it’s approximately every 12 months, and with increased computing power and artificial intelligence, the amount of knowledge may soon double every 12 hours. That puts a lot of pressure on humans, many of whom get twitchy when their iPhone update moves the search bar from the top of the screen to the bottom, to keep up.  

Read this article shared by Pgh. AIHA Member Frank Pokrywka and published in The Chronicle of Higher Education here:  Link to Article

Boothless Technologies Create New Opportunities for Hearing Assessment and Conservation
November 15, 2021 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET | Earn 1 Contact Hour
Free webinar in partnership with Edare

​Recent advances in mobile technologies have yielded new innovations in how and where hearing testing may be performed. Get an overview of new technologies designed for testing outside traditional sound booths, often referred to as “boothless audiometry,” including challenges and current regulations governing occupational hearing testing.

Heat Stress and Vector-Borne Disease: Mother Nature vs. Flame-Resistant and Arc-Rated Clothing
November 17, 2021 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET | Earn 1 Contact Hour
Free webinar in partnership with Bulwark
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There are several factors to consider when selecting flame-resistant and arc-rated clothing, especially in the case of extreme weather conditions. Learn best practices for avoiding heat stress, specifically when dealing with those inevitable insects that accompany the summer heat.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings on Oct. 27, 2021. Currently, OSHA does not have a specific standard for hazardous heat conditions and this action begins the process to consider a heat-specific workplace rule.
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“As we continue to see temperatures rise and records broken, our changing climate affects millions of America’s workers who are exposed to tough and potentially dangerous heat,” said U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. “We know a disproportionate number of people of color perform this critical work and they, like all workers, deserve protections. We must act now to address the impacts of extreme heat and to prevent workers from suffering the agony of heat illness or death.”

The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will initiate a comment period to gather diverse perspectives and expertise on topics, such as heat-stress thresholds, heat-acclimatization planning and exposure monitoring.

Source:  OSHA Press Release:  https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20211026

(Re-Post from The Synergist Weekly newsletter)
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Like employers and other stakeholders, the Synergist team is on the lookout for the publication of OSHA’s new emergency temporary standard (ETS) to require COVID-19 vaccination or testing for workers of larger employers. Yesterday, news outlets including Reuters, The Hill, and The New York Times reported that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its regulatory review of the ETS and that the standard is expected to be published “in the coming days,” according to a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Labor. President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan, released in September, directs OSHA to issue an ETS that would require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that their workers are vaccinated against the disease or submit to weekly testing.

The ETS was reviewed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the statutory part of OMB that conducts regulatory reviews. Once the OIRA review process is complete and the rule finalized, it will be published in the Federal Register. According to the OSHA website, once the agency publishes the ETS in the Federal Register, it serves as a proposed permanent standard subject to the usual rulemaking process except that a final ruling should be made within six months. The validity of an emergency temporary standard may be challenged in an appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals.
While we wait for OSHA’s new ETS to be published, here are some highlights related to other recent developments at the agency.

Protecting workers from heat hazards. An advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) published on Oct. 27 by OSHA launches the agency’s rulemaking process for a standard to protect workers from heat hazards. The ANPRM on heat injury and illness prevention, which covers both outdoor and indoor work settings, initiates a comment period for OSHA to gather information on issues to consider in developing the standard. Comments are due by Dec. 27.

New head of OSHA. The U.S. Senate has confirmed Doug Parker, who most recently served as chief of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, as the new assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. The agency had been without a permanent administrator since David Michaels resigned in 2017.

Federal advisory council on OHS. The U.S. Department of Labor seeks nominations for candidates to be considered for appointment to the newly reestablished Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health. FACOSH is intended to advise the Labor secretary on how to reduce the number of injuries and illnesses in the federal workforce. Nominations for membership on FACOSH are due by Nov. 22.

New regional initiative. A new Regional Emphasis Program established by OSHA is intended to help reduce worker exposure to health hazards in industries where previous inspections have indicated that employees were exposed to hazardous substances such as asbestos, formaldehyde, and cadmium. Additional substances associated with long latency periods from exposure to the appearance of symptoms—benzene, beryllium, and ethylene oxide, among others—are also included in OSHA’s documentation for the program.

Robot system safety. Updated information on robot system safety in workplaces is now published in the OSHA Technical Manual. The updated information can be found in chapter four in the section on industrial robot systems and industrial robot system safety, which is intended as a guide to robot systems found in industrial applications.
AIHA members can always find the latest industry news from The Synergist on AIHA’s website and in The Synergist Weekly e-newsletter, which is delivered every Thursday. We look forward to keeping readers up to date on OSHA’s forthcoming COVID-19 ETS and other issues of importance to industrial hygienists and occupational and environmental health and safety professionals.

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