IAQ RADIO+
Show Number: 743 DRAFT BLOG
Chris Laszcz-Davis - OHTA
Chelsea Earhart - BGC
Larry Sloan – AIHA
Dr. Albert J. Tien- WHWB-US
Global Environmental Health & Safety
A New Pathway for CIH Accreditation
Good Day and welcome to IAQ Radio+ episode 743 blog. This week we welcomed Chris Laszcz-Davis – OHTA Chelsea Earhart – BGC,, Larry Sloan – AIHA and Dr. Albert Tien -WHWB-US to talk about global worker health and the new Global Pathway for CIH Accreditation.
Workplace safety and occupational illness are challenges globally. This week we focused on organizations involved in occupational health and worker safety internationally and their new collaboration for educating and mentoring global EH&S professionals. The panel discussed their innovative solutions they are using to share their knowledge and expertise through training courses internationally making them available in areas where there are little available resources.
Our Panelists:
Dr. Albert Tien is the Managing Partner for 2TSustainAbility. He is also President and one of the founding members of Workplace Health Without Borders (US). Dr. Tien holds a PhD Biotechnology from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; he also was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Oakridge Institute for Science and Engineering. His MS Life Sciences is from New Mexico Highlands University and his undergraduate work was at Tulane University in Biological Chemistry.
Lawrence Sloan serves as CEO of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). Before this, he served as CEO at SOCMA, a trade association representing the US specialty chemical industry. He began his career as a chemical engineer at Air Products. Mr. Sloan earned a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Chris Laszcz-Davis, MS, CIH, FAIHA, FAIC is the Founder & President of The Environmental Quality Organization (EQO) LLC, She has over forty (40) years of executive management including as a former Corporate Vice-President, Environmental Affairs for Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation. Prior to industry, Chris worked for the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Chris is presently Co-Chair of the global Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA).
Chelsea Earhart, MBA, CAE, ICE-CCP is the Executive Director of The Board for Global EHS Credentialing (BGC®). Over the past 22 years, Chelsea Earhart has served as the certification / accreditation departments of associations representing diverse professions and industries. She has also helped many certification and licensure organizations create and implement exams and examination programs.
As our listening audience is familiar with the AIHA, here is background information on the other organizations.
IOHA (International Industrial Hygiene Association, IOHA.net) was established to improve, promote and develop occupational hygiene worldwide through its member organizations, and to improve and maintain a safe and healthy working environment for all.
From its creation in 1987, IOHA has grown to 42 member organizations, representing over 20,000 occupational hygienists worldwide.
IOHA provides an international voice of the occupational hygiene profession through its recognition as a non-governmental organization (NGO) by both the ILO (International Labor Organization) and WHO (World Health Organization). The IOHA meets on a triannual basis. The most recent meeting was hosted in Ireland, where a serendipitous discussion between Larry Sloan and Chris Laszcz-Davis on a shuttle bus resulted in the partnership we are discussing today.
At the IOHA 2024 Awards Ceremony, OHTA was presented with the 2024 IOHA Collaboration Award in honor of its profound commitment to improving worker health and promoting occupational hygiene on a global scale.
OHTA Co-Chairs, Chris Laszcz-Davis and Steven Verpaele, accepted the award on behalf of OHTA and they shared their views on OHTA’s trajectory, impact, vision and future opportunities in the following video which can be viewed on the OHTA YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/AUAP9DbizK4
Chris, what does the abbreviation OHTA stand for? Occupational Hygiene Training Association (OHTA is headquartered the UK). OHTA was constituted in 2009. OHTA received global recognition by
What is the OHTA? OHTA is a global team of occupational hygiene (OH) volunteers, approved trainers, and students of all ages and backgrounds who are interested in protecting the health and safety of workers from hazards in their jobs.
What are the Goals of OHTA? The number one priority of OHTA is to make low-cost, world-class courses available to OH practitioners and students in underserved areas. But we also have OHTA trainers in developed countries. Our ultimate goal is to increase the number and competency of occupational hygienists throughout the world. Improving worker health, one course at a time.
What Does OHTA Offer? Training materials are developed and maintained by OHTA volunteer teams who are internationally recognized experts in their subject area. Student manuals can be downloaded for free once you create an account on the website at ohtatraining.org. Training courses are available from OHTA approved trainers who are typically OH consultants or national OH associations.
As part of our qualification framework, OHTA offers an ICertOHTA certificate in occupational hygiene to those students who have successfully completed exams for 6 of the OHTA500 series course. Exams are multiple-choice, open-book. The ICert certificates are accepted prerequisites for the CIH designation.
Additional Comments by Chris:
• There are 340 million workplace accidents and 160 million incidents of workplace illness annually.
• The most calls for help are coming from India, Africa, China and Indonesia. OHTA is working through friendship circles.
• OHTA is developing training materials for instructors to deliver courses internationally.
• Expansion=Success
• Online students want more case studies and practical application. Our big deliverable is having boots on the ground.
• A major benefit of international training courses is that students who are active can become change agents.
• We are moving into Turkey, Indonesia and parts of Africa.
• The CIH course is Cadillac.
Workplace Health Without Borders International was founded in the spring of 2011 by a group of occupational hygienists in Toronto, Canada. Since then, WHWB has grown to include national branches in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia. Each branch is an autonomous entity that operates consistently within WHWB’s strategic framework and guideline.
Vision- A world in which workers, their families, and communities do not become ill because of their work.
Mission- To prevent work-related disease and injury through the sharing of expertise, knowledge and skills with underserved populations wherever needed throughout the world.
WHWB-US is an independent branch of WHWB, an international charity based in Canada. We leverage partnerships and build connections between communities, local organizations and stakeholders, academics and researchers, non-profits, and industry.
Together with our international branches, we have a network of nearly 1000 people around the world including occupational hygienists, epidemiologists, nurses, physicians, and others concerned about global workplace health.
Additional comments from Albert:
• WHWB-US is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization incorporated in September 2015 with a mission to:
• WHWB-US is a 501 C nonprofit organization purposefully located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Because it was at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) that Professor Dr Warren Cook did pioneering work and writing on the subject of exposure limits.
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstrea ... sequence=1
• After seeing IOHA’s training materials, Albert wanted to get involved.
• Raise awareness of the need for effective control of workplace hazards and risks for our own underserved workers and communities as well as in developing countries.
• Collaborative online internet-based learning. SUNY (State University of New York) and a Vietnamese University. OHTATRAINING.org and WHWB-USA.org
• Provide coordination and oversight for projects and training initiated by WHWB-US. WHWB-US has appointed an ambassador to Viet Nam. Projects have been undertaken in Viet Nam which include setting up H&S curriculum in Vietnamese colleges. Projects have also been undertaken in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has inherent challenges: low internet band width and political instability.
• Access resources for both national and international projects which may be more accessible by nonprofits incorporated in the US
• Exams are translated into local languages. The exams test the student’s knowledge and comprehension of the information, not their English comprehension.
• Effective control of workplace hazards, training, and oversight on both national and international projects. OHTA I-Certificates are widely recognized.
• WHWB-US provides mentors to help students for CIH exam. WHWB-US provides partial or total funding for low-income students to take the CIH exam.
• WHWB-US looks at all venues for fundraising. WHWB-US receives funding from multiple sources including NIOSH, microgrants, WHWB and Australia.
Board for Global EHS Credentialing (BGC®) Established in 1960 as the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) with one credentialing program, our independent non-profit 501(c)(6) organization has grown to become the Board for Global EHS Credentialing (BGC®) with multiple credentialing programs designed to protect human health, safety, and the environment.
BGC is the premier global credentialing body for professionals who protect and enhance the health, safety, and environment of people at work and in their communities. Our rigorous, reliable, and valid credentialing process elevates the expectations of professionals who work in the environment, health, and safety (EHS) fields and allows them to demonstrate their commitment and ability to work at the highest level.
Additional comments from Chelsea:
• The CIH is currently the BGC’s flagship credential. The CIH was BGC’s first credential.
• The first CIH course was taught in 1963.
• 13,000 people have attained the CIH of which 7-8K are currently active.
• BGC offers additional credentials in H&S.
• The CIH designation is important so employers in foreign countries can hire H&S professionals with training they can rely on.
• CIH Concentration by country: USA and Territories, Canada, China (Mainland), Singapore, India, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, China (Taiwan), Saudi Arabia. These are in order.
• Currently the CIH exam is only given in English. GBC is working on CIH exam translations.
• Less than 10 countries have their own CIH equivalent courses.
• European Network of Safety & Health Professionals Organizations, GBC is an associate member
https://www.enshpo.eu/
• GBC is working on having CIHs written into laws, rules and regulations both domestically and internationally.
• GBC relies upon industry experts to develop questions. Using psychometrics psychometricians ensure that the exam questions are unaffected by culture or bias. The exam is refreshed annually. The CIH exam undergoes a job analysis every five years to ensure that the exam covers what knowledge and skills are needed by CIHs in the field.
• For CIH testing, GBC uses Pearson Vue because they have testing centers worldwide. Testing with secure remote proctors is another option.
Comments from Larry:
• Collaborative committed to global community of IHs
• CIH course applicants are vetted to confirm that they meet the required criteria. After enrollment, students have 6 months to finish the course. A synchronous online CIH training course has been licensed from the coursedeveloper. The course is 24 hours long. The course is divided into modules. Each module has a quiz. Quizlet flashcards are included to help students prepare. The course has 180 question practice exam.
• AIHA is agnostic regarding the available CIH prep courses.
• AIHA was approached to send a delegation to Viet Nam. The AIHA delegation was issued cultural visas for the trip. The trip was coordinated to coincide with a Vietnamese H&S conference.
• Here is a link to the CIH Crash Course offered through AIHA:
https://www.aiha.org/education/elearnin ... ash-course
AIHA is offering ~ 50% discount off list price to graduates of the iCertOHTA program. Note the discounted price is NOT publicly available.
•
Round-Up & Final Comments
Albert- From what country do you wish for more buy in on H&S? The US, while we have lots of laws and regulations, companies don’t want to follow them. Farmers, mom and pops, etc.
Larry- I’m delighted with the partnership. AIHA is agnostic as to which CIH prep courses students use.
To learn more about IOHA, visit
https://www.ioha.net/
To learn more about WHWB Intl, visit
https://whwb.org/
To learn more about OHTA, visit
https://ohtatraining.org/
Chris- I worked 25 years in industry and found that the change agents are the plant operators and plant administrators facing prominent problems.
Chelsea- GBC has 2 new credentials: Certified Associate in Environment, Safety, and Health, Certified Professional in Environment, Safety, and Health
Z-Man signing off
TRIVIA
In what year was the first Certified Industrial Hygiene examination administered?
Answer: 1963
Answered by:
Robert Skoglund, Covestro
