Just what do industrial hygienists actually do, and why is it important to your safety program? This week, our Safety Training Tips editor focuses on this important and highly specialized profession.
What is industrial hygiene? Industrial hygiene has been defined (by NASA) as “the science of anticipating, recognizing, evaluating, and controlling workplace conditions that may cause workers’ injury or illness.” Industrial hygienists use environmental monitoring and analytical methods to detect the extent of worker exposure, and employ engineering, work practice controls, and other methods to control potential health risks.
You need safety policies, but you don’t have to write them. We’ve already written them for you in BLR’s Essential Safety Policies program. Examine it at no cost or risk. Click for details.
Which aspects of workplace safety does it cover? Industrial hygiene focuses primarily on health hazards such as:
- Chemical hazards—gases, vapors, dusts, fumes, mists, and smoke
- Physical hazards—nonionizing and ionizing radiation, noise, vibration, extreme temperatures and pressures
- Ergonomic hazards—workstation design, repetitive motion, improper lifting/reaching, poor visual conditions
- Biological hazards—insects, mold, yeast, fungi, bacteria, and viruses
How does industrial hygiene affect OSHA regulations and enforcement? OSHA uses industrial hygiene expertise in a number of ways.
The agency relies on industrial hygienists to evaluate jobs for potential health hazards and to help develop standards to control those hazards. In fact, more than 40 percent of OSHA compliance officers who inspect America’s workplaces are industrial hygienists.
Industrial hygienists also provide technical assistance and support to OSHA’s national and regional offices. In addition, industrial hygienists assist in setting up field enforcement procedures and issuing technical interpretations of OSHA regulations. Other organizations that study and promote industrial hygiene and the establishment of rules governing allowable workplace exposures include the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
What controls do industrial hygienists recommend to prevent harmful exposures? To control workplace health hazards, industrial hygienists have established a “hierarchy of control.” The hierarchy consists of:
• Engineering controls
• Work practice controls
• Administrative controls
• Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Get the safety policies you need without the work. They’re in BLR’s Essential Safety Policies program. Try it at no cost and no risk. Click for details.
In other words, if engineering controls alone cannot prevent harmful exposures, then work and or administrative controls should be added. If exposure levels are still too high, then employees also need to wear appropriate PPE.
How can you get more information? You can find information about industrial hygiene on the websites of OSHA, NIOSH, and ACGIH. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), which is one of the largest international associations serving the needs of occupational and environmental health professionals, also provides information about this important workplace topic. Founded in 1939, AIHA is a nonprofit group with 12,000 members. It works in conjunction with the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) to promote certification of industrial hygienists. AIHA also runs comprehensive education programs and laboratory accreditation programs. For more information about the activities and programs of AIHA, go to http://www.aiha.org
Why It Matters…
• Workplace hazards of concern to industrial hygienists are among the most dangerous hazards employees may face, and also are those that cause some of the highest rates of injuries, illness, and lost workdays.
• In some cases, exposures to these hazards can disable or kill employees.
• You need to be familiar with industrial hygiene hazards in your facility, the permissible exposure limits (PELs), and the controls necessary to prevent harmful exposures.
Suggest that you use the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) definition of the practice and art industrial hygiene. Your current definition is on the target but does hit a bullseye nor does it do justice to the practice of what we do and what it takes to be a certified industrial hygienist.
The ABIH defines an Industrial Hygienist as follows:
Defining an Industrial Hygienist
Industrial hygiene is a term designed to evoke a simple view of what the practice means. However, it comes from a time when the words had a different interpretation to them. Industrial seems clear enough – practicing in a work or factory setting, but even that gets blurred these days when defining a problem in an office setting. Hygiene comes from the area of practice relating to cleanliness, sanitation, or health. Therefore, as initially determined, an Industrial Hygienist (IH) is a professional who is dedicated to the health and well-being of the worker. Typically, this would have an IH evaluating the health effects of chemicals or noise in a work place. This has been expanded a bit by the changing of our society from an industrial/agricultural base to more of a service economy to address issues of productivity. It also now relates to an expansion of workplace to areas of the community outside the traditional place of employment.
The IH professional traditionally has gained knowledge by some combination of education, training, and experience. Ideally, this knowledge is used to anticipate when a hazardous condition could occur to cause an adverse health effect on a worker or the environment. Failing that, the IH must be able to recognize conditions that could lead to adverse health effects to workers or a community population. Still, there would be no real meaning to defining hazards if an evaluation of the probability and severity of a recognized adverse effect and some realistic control means would not be forthcoming to remove or reduce the impact of the situation.
Traditionally, since the term “industrial hygienist” has not been restricted by law, anyone who feels they have some capability to act in the realm of advising on the health and well-being of workers could label themselves as an Industrial Hygienist. They may be newly installed in an organizational position calling for such knowledge, therefore, by default, they become an Industrial Hygienist. One can always push to gain the necessary knowledge to function effectively, but there is still some doubt as to how to demonstrate that “competence” to the outside world. In the mid-1950’s, a group of Industrial Hygienists from a national organization recommended that a voluntary certification program be established for industrial hygiene practitioners. In 1960, an independent corporation was established from the two national membership organizations, AIHA and ACGIH, to establish a national examination process to certify a minimum level of knowledge and skills in industrial hygiene.
Because the program was voluntary, it did not restrict the practice of individuals calling themselves industrial hygienists. Indeed, today there are many competent persons practicing the profession of industrial hygiene who have not sought certification. However, the program has, since its establishment, shown itself to be a hallmark of achievement that provides an indicator of success in the field. It measures to a defined standard the knowledge and skills of a practicing Industrial Hygienists in three performance domains, or areas of responsibility, and eight content domains, or technical areas, of practice.
Areas of Practice
The technical knowledge of industrial hygiene practice has been divided into eight content domains: Basic Sciences; Occupational Disease, Illness, Injury and Surveillance (biostatistics, epidemiology, toxicology); Health Hazards (ergonomics/human factors, physical stressors, biological stressors, chemical stressors); Work Environments (indoor air, industrial processes); Program Management Principles (investigation methods, ethics, risk communication, guidelines and standards, data management and integration, emergency response); Evaluation Practices (instrumentation, sampling methods/techniques, analytical chemistry); Hazard Controls (engineering, PPE, administrative); and Community Stressors (air pollution, hazardous waste).
Still, there are means of applying this knowledge that differ in many situations. Application is seen in the recognition of a hazard, the evaluation of the stressors, in the actual control of the situation, and in industrial hygiene program management. These “domains” of practice differ as one advances through ones career. Efforts to create reasonable standards of practice have led to the development of a code of ethics for the practice of industrial hygiene. While it does not in itself define competence, it certainly becomes recognizable when it is absent.
Defining Qualifications for an Industrial Hygienist
Because the tests evaluate technical knowledge and not actual practice, it is felt that some minimum time in actual performance of industrial hygiene duties is essential for entry into the process. Therefore, several years of experience are necessary before a person may take the examination. An allowance is made for IH graduate education, recognizing the contribution that education has toward developing a mature practitioner. The contribution of education is further recognized in that an appropriate Bachelor’s Degree is required to qualify to take the examinations.
However, it is not rote knowledge that identifies a competent Industrial Hygienist. There is an “art” to applying the technical principles in a manner that provides a reasonable solution for a workplace health issue. This is the real value behind the experience requirement for certification. A relationship with a practicing “Certified Industrial Hygienist” (CIH) is the key to learning the nuances in applying knowledge to work out the best solution. A “mentor” to show a new IH how to apply the book knowledge in the real world is valuable. Also, experience in as wide a practice as possible is helpful when you must demonstrate your knowledge in these eigth content domains. This has become extremely difficult for “specialists” or those who practice in narrow areas. Limiting your experience to indoor environmental quality, or lead abatement, or confined spaces control can be a disadvantage when trying to demonstrate competency in other areas only known through a textbook or an “examination review course.”
However, you can never discount individual drive. After all, that is what motivates an individual to participate in a “voluntary” certification process. Because the field has been seen as lucrative to some, there has been a push by some governmental entities and private businesses to require “certified” professionals to ensure the minimum knowledge and experience is available on their projects. This tends to drive provider organizations to propel individuals into the certification process. But, individual motivation is the key to successful completion and garnering of the title “Certified Industrial Hygienist” or “Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist”. The process has, through the demonstrated success of its diplomates, attained a “brand” recognition that gives a CIH/CAIH a foot in the door that might otherwise be standing in line with the others in the crowd. It has even spawned imitators. Several states have recognized the trademark and capabilities of those displaying the CIH/CAIH and have enacted legislation to protect the designations of “Certified Industrial Hygienist” and “Certified Associate Industrial Hygienist”.