2022 William Steiger Memorial Awardee

The William Steiger Memorial Award honors individuals from the social/political sphere whose efforts have contributed to advancements in occupational safety and health. Andrea Hiddinga-Schipper is the 2022 Steiger Award recipient for making such contributions.

Andrea studied Environmental Sciences at the Prof. H.C. van Hall institute in Groningen (1987-1991), then went to the Agricultural University of Wageningen where she studied Environment, Labor and Health at the Faculty of Environmental Health (1991-1994).

In 1994 she began her professional career as a researcher at TNO in Rijswijk. In her work for TNO she focused on exposure modelling for pesticides and biocides. She participated in several exposure studies for industry and government at national and European level. Andrea then worked for 20 years for Arbo Unie, an occupational health and safety service, as a consultant in different sectors, e.g. government, health care and industry, leading several expert groups within the company. Since August 2021, she started her own company AHOH-projects.

In her volunteer life, she has been involved in national and international activities. Andrea has been a member of the NVvA since 1994, a registered member since 1998 and a board member since 2020. In this role, she represents the NVvA in the European Platform for Occupational Hygiene (EPOH) and in OHTA as part of the Awards & Qualifications Committee.

Andrea served for 10 years on the board of the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA); as board member, secretary-treasurer (2011-2015) and president (2017-2018). As an executive on the IOHA board, she developed the 2016-2020 strategy. Andrea is currently a member of the Stakeholders Relations Committee and is the liaison for liaison with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and in recent years led the lobbying for the IOHA on the recognition of safety and health as a fundamental rights.

Her vision links working conditions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as defined by the United Nations (UN). In doing so, she recognizes that labour is inextricably linked to People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership, and that achieving these goals is impossible without partnership and collaboration with other disciplines. In her presidency, Andrea has focused specifically on reaching out to other professions.

Her drive is to achieve real understanding and a working solution through collaborative analysis, from people with different knowledge and backgrounds. Her curiosity, knowledge and expertise and her drive to collaborate with other disciplines forms the basis to make this possible.

Previous Award Recipients

• 1979 — Congressman David R. Obey
• 1982 — George Taylor (AFL–CIO)
• 1983 — Edgar L. McGowan, Commissioner of Labor, South Carolina
• 1984 — Gershon W. Fishbein, Editor, Occupational Health and Safety Letter
• 1985 — Congressman Joseph M. Gaydos of Pennsylvania
• 1986 — William G. Philips
• 1987 — Sheldon Samuels, Director, Health, Safety and Environment, Industrial Union Department, AFL–CIO
• 1988 — Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia
• 1989 — Richard F. Boggs, Vice President of Organization Resources Counselors, Inc.
• 1990 — Joseph A. Kinney, Executive Director of The National Safe Workplace Institute
• 1991 — David P. Rall, MD, PhD, Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1971–1990) and Director of the National Toxicology Program (1978–1990)
• 1992 — Molly J. Coye, MD, Director of the Department of Health Services of the State of California
• 1993 — J. Donald Millar, MD, DTPH (Lond.), the Assistant Surgeon General and Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• 1994 — Eula Bingham, PhD, Professor of Environmental Health; past Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• 1995 — Margaret Seminario, Director of Occupational Safety and Health for the AFL–CIO
• 1996 — James Merchant, MD of the University of Iowa, College of Medicine and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa
• 1997 — J. Davitt McAteer, Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and Andrea M. Hricko, Deputy Assistant Secretary for MSHA
• 1998 — Linda Rae Murray, MD, MPH, Winfield Moody Health Center
• 1999 — Gerald F. Scannell, Director, National Safety Council; previously Director of the Office of Standards in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA
• 2000 — Phil Landrigan, MD, Mount Sinai Medical Center
• 2001 — James Melius, MD, DrPH
• 2002 — Congressman George Miller (D-CA) and Congressman Major R. Owens (D-NY)
• 2003 — Brian Davies, CIH
• 2004 — John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, LLM
• 2005 — Ernest Mastromatteo, CD, MD, DPH, DIH, FABPM (Occ Med), CCBOM, MFOM (London)
• 2006 — Charles E. Adkins, CIH
• 2007 — Earl Dotter, Photojournalist
• 2008 — John L. Henshaw, CIH, MPH
• 2009 — Rosemary Sokas, MD, MSc, MOH
• 2010 — Scott Schneider, CIH
• 2011 — Roger Alesbury, MS, FFOH, CFIOSH
• 2012 — Richard Fairfax, CIH
• 2013 — David Michaels, PhD, MPH
• 2014 — Tom O’Connor, MPH
• 2015 — Garrett D. Brown, MPH, CIH
• 2016 — Vickie L. Wells, MS, CIH, CSP
• 2017 — U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
• 2018 — Bennet I. Omalu, MD, MBA, MPH, CPE, DABP-AP, CP, FP, NP
• 2019 — Michael J. Wright
• 2020 — Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
• 2021 — Senator Tom Harkin